The blogosphere is abuzz over the news that two people died, and several more sickened at a retreat held by New Age huckster, “Secret” booster, and two-time Oprah guest James Arthur Ray. The deaths occurred as a result of the careless use of a large plastic “sweat lodge” that held 64 people at the time of the incident (you can hear the 911 calls, here), and was the culmination of  a 9695.00-per-head “spiritual warrior” workshop.

In all, 21 of the 64 people crowded inside the sweat lodge Thursday evening received medical care at hospitals and a fire station. Four remained hospitalized Friday evening – one in critical condition and the others in fair condition … Among those sickened were a middle-aged man and a woman who were unconscious, according to a 911 call, and a third person who was found not breathing. “It’s not something you’d normally see at one of the resorts there, and it’s unfortunate regardless of the cause,” D’Evelyn said. Investigators were working to determine whether criminal actions might have been a factor in the incident, D’Evelyn said. The Angel Valley Retreat Center sits on 70 acres nestled in a scrub forest just outside Sedona, a resort town 115 miles north of Phoenix that draws many in the New Age spiritual movement. Self-help expert and author James Arthur Ray rented the facility as part of his “Spiritual Warrior” retreat that began Oct. 3 and that promised to “absolutely change your life.”

Well it certainly did change several people’s lives, two it changed rather permanently. It makes Chas Clifton wonder if you can sue your shaman, especially if you signed a lengthy liability-release form beforehand. Meanwhile, Gus diZerega and Kathryn Price NicDhana point out the dangers of this kind of ignorant appropriation.

“The newage, pyramid-scheming, scam artist crammed 21 people into a plastic sweatlodge. In the hot, wet dark with the man who had no idea how to lead an Indian ceremony, and no connection to any culture that could have taught him how (or told him this was a really bad idea), they sweated for two hours… till two were dead, three were unconscious, and everyone else went to the hospital.  Hazmat teams and crime scene tape now surround the site. Native American ceremonial people from the area are saying that, by imitating a ceremony he was not trained to perform, this newage plastic shaman killed these people. I agree. They used materials in this fake ceremony that should not be used, they used things that were physically and spiritually dangerous. They payed $9,000 for a sad death at the hands of a greedy con man.”

The Beyond Growth blog, a longtime critic of James Ray, points out that these “large group awareness trainings” often push people past their safe limits through peer pressure and the fear of failure.

“I know several people who have gone to the hospital for various reasons after “large group awareness trainings” such as Ray’s “Spiritual Warrior Event.” … It’s time we brought these gurus to justice and demanded that personal change workshops be safe for all. When something goes wrong in such a seminar due to it being overly intense and dangerous, usually the victims are blamed for “not taking 100% responsibility,” thus dodging the responsibility of the seminar leaders. Personally, I think we should hold James Arthur Ray 100% personally responsible for the death of these two seminar participants, up to and including going to jail. Seminar leaders are responsible for making their workshops both effective and safe for all.”

Beyond Growth’s post also has a screen-shot of Ray’s creepy death-haunted Twitter posts made before and during the event, since deleted after the sweat-lodge debacle. I highly recommend reading his follow-up post “The Dark Side of The Secret” for more insight.

This mixture of cultural appropriation, magical thinking, New Age brainwashing, and a success at all costs mentality ends up creating unsafe environments for those merely looking to improve themselves. I’m not sure his liability release forms will protect Ray (not to mention Michael and Amayra Hamilton, who hosted the event) from the coming storm of inquiries, litigation, and increased scrutiny that are sure to follow. Lets hope this tragedy opens the eyes of those gulled by the Secret-peddlers and Plastic Shamans interested only in improving their bank-accounts, not your life.

While the practice of witchcraft is often viewed in a negative light within various cultures, at times erupting into horrible anti-witch violence in places like Tanzania and India, that isn’t the case everywhere. In fact, some cultures are trying to preserve their witches for the sake of future generations. That is the case with the Paiwan people of Taiwan, who are concerned that their long tradition of witches are fading away and have decided to do something about it.

“Witchcraft is an important part of the Paiwan tribe’s culture, but the number of practising witches it has produced has recently dropped sharply. The school, which opened last July, has ten students, but the organisers hope it will expand. Wong Yu-hua, a social affairs official in Pingtung county, where the school is based, told AFP: “We are witnessing the disappearance of the ancient ritual. We are trying hard to preserve it. The Paiwan tribe numbers about 86,000 people but has fewer than 20 witches, a decrease from more than 100 half a century ago.”

Naturally the term “witch” can mean many different things, so what exactly does a witch do within the context of this indigenous culture? Well, something that may seem rather familiar to practitioners of modern Witchcraft in the West.

“Paiwan witches are seen as mediums between gods and humans, and the school teaches pupils rituals for blessing people and protecting them from evil. Witches can use their powers to worship gods and ancestors, pray for weather and for their harvests and perform healing treatments and rituals for hunting and tattooing.”

For more on the Paiwan religion and culture, check out this report from the Digital Museum of Taiwan. As indigenous traditions of seership, witchcraft, shamanism, and magic become endangered through a variety of social, religious, and economic pressures it will be interesting to see how attempts to ensure their survival fare. Will the Paiwan witches dwindle to a mere handful like Japan’s itako, or will they experience a rebirth like the Yoruba priests and priestesses have at Nigeria’s Osun-Osogbo grove have? The outcome remains to be seen, but the opening of schools of witchcraft seems like a positive first step.

You have to wonder if Slate.com is getting somewhat hard-pressed to find subject matter and writers for their regular “Faith-Based” section. How else to explain them getting journalist Robert Wright, author of several game theory/evolutionary psychology-boosting books, including his recent “The Evolution of God”, to write about Neo-Shamanism? Wright, who seems to be a proponent of the outmoded and inaccurate idea that monotheism is a more evolved form of belief than polytheism (Publishers Weekly points out that he uses a “naive and antiquated approach to the sociology and anthropology of religion”), is so eager to debunk popular myths about shamans that he makes some rather sloppy assertions right out of the gate.

“The quotes come from Leo Rutherford, a leading advocate of neo-shamanism, which is a subset of neo-paganism, which is a subset of New Age spirituality. But the basic idea—that there was a golden age of spiritual purity which we fallen moderns need to recover—goes beyond New Age circles.”

While there is certainly some significant overlap between modern Paganism and Neo-Shamanism, the latter isn’t a “subset” of the former. Nor is modern Paganism a subset of New Age spirituality. These are all distinct religious/social movements with different starting points, ideologies, and goals. Wright is confusing the overlap of practitioners and subcultures (and the tendency of some academics to lump them together for the sake of convenience) with some sort of neat nesting-dolls order of New Religious Movements. Meanwhile, before Wright talks about all the indigenous shamans who were fakes and confidence men, he wants us to know that he isn’t trying to offend.

“But before I start, I want to stress two points: 1) I think it’s great for people to find spiritual peace and sound moral orientation wherever they can, including neo-paganism; 2) I don’t doubt that back before Western monotheism took shape there were earnest seekers of a “holistic vision” who selflessly sought to share that vision.”

So big of him, don’t you think? Despite admitting that some shamans may have indeed been honorable and wise, he still wants to point out that some were not. As if human nature hasn’t taught us that some people, no matter how exhaulted their status, can still take part in some very real moral failings and abuse their power. In fact, Wright pretty much admits that there may be some real value to various shamanic ideas and practices (he “praises” them by comparing their worldview to followers of early Abrahamic religions), he just wanted us to take off our rose-colored (shamanic) glasses.

“I’m for that! In fact, I once did a one-week Buddhist meditation retreat that gave me just that feeling. And there are traditions within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that are big on oneness. I recommend trying one of them—or trying neo-shamanism. But if you try neo-shamanism, don’t be under the illusion that you’re helping to recover a lost age of authentic spirituality. Religion has always been a product of human beings, for better and worse.”

So to sum up, Neo-Shamanic adherents (who are a subset of Pagans, who are a subset of New Agers) need to remember that some indigenous shamans were fakers and frauds, but really, there is some  (early Abrahamic-esque) wisdom and good stuff to be found there. Heck, “ordinary consciousness could use some transcending”! So I guess now that the Neo-Shamans (not to mention the traditional indigenous shamans) have been taken down a peg by Wright, those crazy diamonds can all shine on. I have to wonder, was there really a point to this article? Did Slate.com actually pay him to just ramble on about animal bladders full of blood and how often shamans got lucky? Of all the topics he could cover, why was Robert Wright writing about Neo-Shamanism?

(T. Thorn Coyle, filling in for Jason Pitzl-Waters)

Many Pagans and magic workers will attend the Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne this December. As an official Ambassador to the Parliament, I and other representatives of Solar Cross shall be among those attending.

The Parliament first convened in 1893 in Chicago, as an ancillary meeting to the World Columbian Exposition, and leaders from many spiritual and religious traditions met and talked for the first time. Swami Vivekananda addressed the gathering:

Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

If you wish to hear this speech, click on the link above.

The Parliament did not reconvene for 100 years, when a reprise was organized for the anniversary of this first, historic meeting. It has met every five or six years since, including many of the religions not in attendance at that first gathering, expanding Swami Vivikenanda’s dream. Baha’is, Sikhs, Earth religions, and Indiginous religions are all now active participants.

At a recent pre-Parliamentary event in San Francisco, I attended a meeting with Buddhists, Christians, Metaphysicians, Hindus, and Jews and spoke about what I hope to bring to the Parliament. Pagans, I feel, have something very important to add to the discussion, particularly addressing this year’s theme which is “Make a World of Difference: Hearing Each Other, Healing the Earth”. We experience the sacred within and around us. We believe that matter is not fallen and strive – at least in theory – to live in harmony with this great body Gaia we are all part of. We also have a chance to be good listeners, because, even if we are Monists or non-dualists, most of us are also Pantheists and Polytheists: there is no end to diversity and we dance with that, the sacred is ever with us, in myriad forms. In my direct experience and perception – which are so important to Pagans and magic workers – God Herself forms the fabric of all, and we weave our lives into this fabric, changing texture and color, adding to the glorious blend. Our Gods and Goddesses, too, weave in their sparks of light, their watery or earthy natures, as do animals, stars, trees, molecules and atoms. When we are at our best, our very lives and ways of worship open us to tolerance and deep listening.

We have the ability to carry this sense of connection, immanence, and wonder with us everywhere we go. I recently carried that sense to the chapel podium of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio and spoke of our deep need to connect with all of our parts – animal, human, and divine – to align our own soul in order to come into alignment with the soul of the world. I spoke of the sacred being among us, and how acts of social justice become as acts of prayer and meditation. I spoke of dancing the primal elements of air, fire, water, earth, and spirit. Each of us knows this dance, for it is as familiar to us as breathing.

All of these, I firmly believe, give Pagans and magic workers a distinct voice in inter-religious dialogue. We do not have to reach at all to come to a sense of the Divine within and among us. We do not have to reach at all to acknowledge that multiplicity is as sacred as unity. We do not have to reach at all to sense that every action, every thought and breath we take, affects and remakes the world. We do not always recall each tenet in every moment  but we don’t have far to go to reconnect. Despite our states of disconnection, the reality of reconnection is right here, right now, and something in our blood and bones knows this and responds. We carry these possibilities of connection with us everywhere we go. My friends and compatriots will carry this with us to the Parliament in Melbourne. We will talk, make ritual, shake hands, bow, and pass along our relationship with the sacred. Our Gods will walk the halls with us, as will the sense of our own divinities, and a sense of divine Nature. We shall seek the divinity in the eyes and in the words of every other participant. This is our practice. Thou art Goddess. Thou art God.

For all of you not attending the Parliament in Melbourne, I encourage you to think about going. I encourage local groups to raise funds to send representatives, who will then come back and share the experience at home. I ask that you seek out local pre-Parliamentary events to attend and talk about your practices there. And I encourage each of us, every day, to bring our sense of Divine connection with us as we work, play, dance, toil, and make love. If you do decide to attend, please let me know, for we are organizing so as to form a cohesive, though diverse presence. Walk the halls with us. Listen to the Dalai Lama, Sr. Joan Chittister, Cheif Oren Lyons and Margot Adler. Make ritual with us, and walk in the Australian summer sun.

I end with more words from Swami Vivekananda, spoken at the closing ceremony of the first Parliament:

Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, “Brother, yours is an impossible hope.” Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth; or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

Blessed be.

——–
T. Thorn Coyle is a Pagan, mystic, magic worker, spiritual director, activist, and founder of Solar Cross and the Morningstar Mystery School. Author of “Kissing the Limitless” and “Evolutionary Witchcraft” she makes her home near the San Francisco Bay.

(by Brendan Myers)

In the last few years I’ve started to hear more and more about Elders in the Pagan community. The people who first joined the movement back in the 60’s are in their 60’s now (in terms of age, if not a decade!) and many of them have done so much work for the movement in that time – running a festival, writing books, managing a shop, teaching new people – that the word Elder is more frequently being attached to them.

In the spring and summer of 2006 I worked as a contract researcher for the branch of the government of Canada responsible for peacekeeping and policing in the First Nations. During this job, I came into contact with 50 traditional indigenous Elders from all across Canada. I think that as the Pagan community begins to acknowledge Elders of its own, it would benefit from a look at the way Aboriginal people understand their Elders. Here’s a short account of my own experiences.

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The answer to will SCOTUS save the San Francisco Peaks (from having treated waste-water snow sprayed on what several Native American tribes consider holy ground) is apparently “no”.

“The U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Navajo Nation v. Forest Service, (Docket No. 08-846). (Order List.) The 9th Circuit in the case held in an 8-3 en banc decision, that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not bar the Forest Service from approving the use of recycled waste water to make artificial snow at Arizona’s Snowbowl ski resort, which operates on federal land.”

The Save the Peaks coalition have released a statement on the decision.

“The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in the Navajo Nation case is unfortunate to say the least.” Stated Jack Trope of the Association on American Indian Affairs who is working together with DNA Legal Services, representing the Hualapai Tribe, Navajo medicine practitioner Norris Nez and Hopi spiritual practitioner Bill Preston. “It means that the San Francisco Peaks, sacred to so many tribes, will continue to be at great risk from the development approved by the Forest Service that allows treated sewage water to be used for snowmaking. It also means that the Ninth Circuit’s narrow interpretation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) – an interpretation which in practice will make that law virtually unavailable to protect sacred lands in the states covered by the Ninth Circuit – will stand.”

This is a big deal. It means that questions of how we approach issues of religious freedom and religious rights on land that is a traditional cultural property under U.S. law are dramatically altered (within 9th Circuit jurisdiction). Perhaps the Forest Service have been intentionally dragging their feet in getting the San Francisco Peaks on the National Register because they didn’t want tribal considerations interfering with their sweetheart deals involving the Snowbowl resort?

“The San Francisco Peaks are recognized as a Traditional Cultural Property, although the Forest Service began the designation process several years ago, it has not yet been finished. The Peaks have also been determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, yet the FS has done nothing to finish the process.”

At this point, nothing short of direct intervention from the Obama administration can halt the planned development (which includes clear-cutting 74 acres of rare alpine ecosystem & creating a 14.8 mile long pipeline up the San Francisco Peaks to a 10 million gallon storage pond). In the meantime, there is a chance this issue could come to SCOTUS again, due to different Federal Circuit Courts having different interpretations on the limits of the the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

“This is a setback, but it is not the end. The Obama Administration still has the authority to stop this development and develop policies to ensure that future decisions are more respectful of sacred sites.” stated Jack F. Trope, Executive Director, Association on American Indian Affairs. “Moreover, other circuits like the Tenth Circuit have interpreted RFRA more broadly and efforts to use that law to protect other sacred places will continue. Finally, the struggle over the San Francisco Peaks and the failure of RFRA to protect this sacred place ought to send the message to Congress that it is time for the lawmakers to approve legislation that would strengthen applicable law so that it will better protect Native American sacred places across the country.”

From a moral and religious standpoint, the question remains, how much responsibility does the Federal government have towards protecting and maintaining sacred lands they have seized from Native tribes? It is an issue we need to wrestle with, because if the government and courts rejects pantheist religious views as valid when considering development, we may lose the right to protect other places from desecration in the future. As for the San Francisco Peaks issue, don’t expect the tribes to go quietly now that judicial recourse has been denied them.

“Our way of life is in peril. We will continue to pray and struggle to safeguard mother earth for our cultural survival.”

I doubt this will be the last time I’ll have to report on this matter.

The Supreme Court is holding a private conference this Thursday to decide if they will review a recent decision in the ongoing legal battle between a coalition of 13 Native American Tribal Nations (and various environmental groups) and the National Forest Service (and a ski resort) over the use of treated (but non-potable) wastewater snow on the San Francisco Peaks. A mountain range that the tribes consider sacred land, and that using waste-water on it would be “like putting death on the mountain”. The Obama administration is opposing review of the case, while the petitioners want to remind the government that they have a sacred responsibility towards the land they took from the tribes.

“It is worth remembering that our government took the Peaks from petitioner tribes. It placed the tribes on reservations and pledged to respect their cultures and traditions. It is hardly implausible that Congress passed a law in 1993 providing under these rare circumstances that the tribes’ religious liberty should be respected.”

So far, lawyers and judges haven’t been very respectful towards the tribes opposed to pumping wastewater onto sacred land just so a single ski resort can stay open longer. A Ninth Circuit judge said is was merely a case of “damaged spiritual feelings”, while government lawyers have been outright insulting towards Native belief systems.

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

You have to wonder if Barack “Black Eagle” Obama of the Crow Nation knows and approves of what Elena Kagan and the Department of Justice are doing in his administration’s name. Will it damage his popularity among Native American Indians, many of whom supported him in the 2008 elections? If SCOTUS decides to hear the appeal, will it be on a Supreme Court that includes Sonia Sotomayor, a judge who is a seeming advocate for the rights of minority religions?

In 1994, Judge Sotomayor ruled in favor of two prisoners who claimed to practice Santeria, a Caribbean religion that involves animal sacrifice and voodoo, saying that “distinctions between ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ religions” are “intolerable.”

Whether SCOTUS decides to hear the appeal or not, it could have lasting implications regarding the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and questions of how we approach issues of religious freedom and religious rights when the land itself is sacred and holy. I’m hoping SCOTUS doesn’t decide to punt on this one, and allows the case to be heard. If not, I guess “screw your sacred land, we want to ski” will be the rallying cry of our government and court system. For more information on this case, check out the round-up of official documents regarding this case at the SCOTUS Blog. You may also want to peruse the official Save The Peaks site.

Fearing that Siberian Shamanism is endangered due to a lack of a spokesperson and visibility, Shonchulai Khovyenmei of the Akh Khaskha tribe in Tuva has organized a controversial Internet voting process to elect a “Supreme Shaman”.

“The organizers of the Internet vote say a top shaman would serve in a similar way to the Orthodox Patriarch or Supreme Mufti and help raise the profile of Russia’s ethnic tribes after their wretched treatment at the hands of the Soviet authorities … Over 230 shamans from Russia’s 11 time zones are competing for the top spot, which will be decided by November. Nominations closed last Friday.”

If you’re thinking this process is very unpopular among some within the Siberian tribes, you’d be right.

“Shamanism is not a religion, it’s a unique phenomenon. To unite us would be very difficult,” said Akai Kynov, a shaman in the Altai Republic, some 3,000 km (1,900 miles) east of Moscow. Kynov, 45, performs rituals in the Altai mountains clad in white and crowned by an immense snow lynx fur hat. He has chaired an informal group of local shamans for a decade and says choosing a supreme shaman could create chaos. “Everyone will not start beating their drums with joy if they elect a chief,” he told Reuters. “The majority will probably slam their fists on the table in protest.”

The Reuters article also interviews Rimma Yerkinova of the Altai republic’s state museum who calls the idea “delirium”, and American-born shaman Jonathan Horwitz (who works in Denmark) who calls the election a “bureaucratic nightmare”. One has to wonder how much authority or sway this Internet-elected “Supreme Shaman” will really have, or what good he or she can do to advance solutions to the problems facing tribal peoples in Russia. Will the other 229 shamans in the running even acknowledge their newly elected “Patriarch/Mufti”?

This whole situation reminds me very much of the 2008 “election” of Max Beauvoir as Haiti’s “Supreme Master” of Haitian Vodou. While the “Supreme Master” has caused controversy among some practitioners in Haiti who have no desire for a “first among equals” representing them, at least Beauvoir and his supporters’ attempts to develop a Vodou hierarchy are happening within a small and distinct geographical area, this shamanism election covers a number of culturally distinct tribes and huge swathes of geography making any real sense of unity and common purpose difficult. Mix in the very personal and interconnected nature of a shaman with his people, and you have a receipe for division and controversy before you’ve even “promoted” a shaman to “Supreme” status. This very much seems like a noble idea gone wrong. After all, who is ready to acknowledge a Supreme Shaman?

ADDENDUM: Additional article on the election from Radio Free Europe.

The Reuters FaithWorld blog reports on a controversial YouTube video making the rounds that purports to depict the “common problem” of infanticide among indigenous tribes in Brazil. The controversy has arisen because the video was funded by the missionary group Youth With A Mission (who have a vested interest in eliminating traditional religions), the video itself is an admitted “recreation” of unverified events, and Survival International claims that infanticide is actually a rare and “dying out” occurrence among Brazilian Indians.

“Enock Freire, one of the makers of the film that was shot with members of the Suruwaha tribe, defended it when contacted by Reuters. He said it was no secret that it was fiction, acted out by local Indians, but that it was aimed at drawing attention to the very real and what he said was the common problem of infanticide by Amazon Indian tribes. He said there is a widespread belief among tribes that children with “bad souls”, including those who are disabled, need to take their last breath underground to avoid them coming back to haunt the village.”

So what does it matter if the practice is “rare” or “common”? Both Survival International and Youth With A Mission are against the practice of infanticide, so what’s the big deal with a video drawing attention to the problem? The problem, according to Survival International, is that the video is racist, incites anti-Indian sentiment, and is actually part of an evangelical campaign for passage of the “Muwaji law”.

“The Muwaji law focuses on what it calls ‘traditional practices’ and says what the state and citizens must do about them. It says that if anyone thinks there is a risk of ‘harmful traditional practices’, they must report it. If they don’t, they are liable to imprisonment. The authorities must intervene and remove the children and/or their parents. All this because someone, anyone, a missionary for example, claims there is some risk.”

Survival also points out that killing children is already illegal in Brazil, and that this new law would grant vast powers to unscrupulous missionaries, and prompt “witch-hunts” against indigenous peoples.

“…this law could bring catastrophic social breakdown, with neighbor spying on neighbor, families split and lives destroyed. Local authorities are bound to err on the side of caution, and wade in, especially if they risk imprisonment themselves if they don’t act. All manner of petty neighborhood disputs risk escalating into appalling and irreversible action … suppose, for example, some disgruntled community member, or local missionary, reported his thoughts that everyone in a village knew about a risk of infanticide but hadn’t gone to the authorities. Under the proposed law, everyone except him should be imprisoned! It’s a law fostering witch-hunts.”

There are web sites that quite plainly position the “Hakani” video as a tool to pass this new law, and brands opponents as followers of “radical” Cultural Relativism. Plainly revealing the political agenda behind their public cries of empathy. Nor is Survival International the only critic of this film. The Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department has called for an investigation into whether Youth With A Mission broke the law in the making of “Hakani”. While all sides agree that infanticide is tragic and something that should be ended, it seems rather clear that passions are being inflamed in order to pass laws that could target tribes resistant to advances from Christian missionaries. Distracting the public from the real dangers tribal groups face from loggers, ranchers, and even the Brazilian government’s own military.

The Australian has an excellent article by Graham Lloyd about Vodun in West Africa. I was particularly taken with his description of how the faith intertwines with all aspects of day-to-day life in Benin.

In Benin, the birthplace of voodoo, from where it spread to Haiti and Cuba with the slave trade, elaborate drumming and dance rituals are still widely practised. They are tolerated by the post-Marxist Benin Government as well as by church leaders on the basis of a shared belief in a primary god. At the village level, the local Catholic priest will often visit his voodoo equivalent after mass to seek the help of voodoo gods to ensure a healthy congregation. Pregnant women would not think of going into labour without first seeing the oracle, the local Fa priest, who will foretell the outcome of the pregnancy by casting a string of cowry shells.

Lloyd also meets Legba at the crossroads, and receives healing aid for a friend from the Loa, which seems to go rather well. I recommend giving the entire article a read.