Pagan scholar Helen Berger, co-author of “Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States”, has announced that she and fellow researchers James R. Lewis and Henrik Bogdan are revisiting the Pagan Census project. The Pagan Census was first initiated nearly twenty years ago, and compiled data from thousands of modern Pagans to give a fascinating snapshot of our communities during Paganism’s meteoric rise in the 1990s. Now, in an age of blogs and instant communications, an update is underway to compare and contrast just how much we’ve changed.

“A number of scholars have noted that it would be helpful to have a follow-up of that survey to see if and how the community has changed or remained the same. The survey that follows uses many, although not all of the same questions that were in the original survey to provide that comparison. There are also new questions, for instance about the Internet, something that was of little interest 20 years ago but is now, and some from other studies, that again permit a comparison. This has resulted in the survey being somewhat long–we appreciate your taking the time to complete it.”

I urge all my readers who identify in any way with the modern Pagan/Heathen movement to participate in this census and spread the word to everyone you know. The more respondents the census has, the more accurate the data. You can find it, here. You can be sure that I will be paying attention to this renewed project as it goes forward, and will keep you appraised of any updates or results.

Mandy Van Deven at Religion Dispatches interviews academic Chris Klassen about her new anthology “Feminist Spirituality: The Next Generation”, an exploration of  spiritual/religious expressions among feminism’s “third wave”. In the interview Klassen expresses some surprise at how the majority of submissions came not from within the traditional monotheisms, but from the spheres of Goddess spirituality, Wicca, and modern Paganism.

“Actually I did not intend this. It is simply how it turned out based on the response to my call for papers. In hindsight though I think it makes sense. The term ‘feminist spirituality’ does, for some, mean ‘alternatives’ to mainstream religion. Thus people working on third wave feminism within Christianity or Islam or Buddhism may not have initially thought the call relevant. (Well, assuming there are folks out there working on third wave feminism within traditional religions, and I really hope there are.) But, as I said before, much feminist spirituality in the new millennium tends toward blurry borders between religions, so it could be that those most interested in third wave feminist spirituality are not focusing on traditional religions.”

I find it hard to believe that feminist scholars working within a Jewish, Christian, or Muslim context wouldn’t jump at the chance of being published in an even faintly relevant academic anthology. Unless the old “publish or perish” truism has degraded greatly in recent times. Assuming that this anthology is a somewhat accurate mirror of religious expression among modern-day feminists, are we witnessing a triumph of the Goddess? Maybe, though Klassen is quick to point out that feminist spirituality in our current age is an increasingly syncretic and pluralistic phenomena.

“…there is also a lot more religious pluralism within the individual. You have Christian feminists participating in Wiccan rituals and Goddess worshipers honoring Jesus. Like much spirituality in general, in the new millennium, feminist spirituality is a bit of a smorgasbord, and it is important for the individual to create a spirituality which fits her own experience and needs.”

Perhaps these new-millenium feminists are the polar opposites of ultra-patriarchal Christian groups like The Family. Instead of “Jesus plus nothing”, it’s “The Goddess plus everything”. After all, doesn’t the old chant go “we all come from the Goddess and to Her we shall return”? In other words, maybe the Vatican is cracking down on American nuns for a particular reason. As for “Feminist Spirituality: The Next Generation”, you can find a list of chapters and contributors, here.

Several folks have written in to alert me that Pagan scholar Murphy Pizza has become the official Minneapolis Paganism Examiner for Examiner.com (the ultra-conservative funded pay-for-pageviews blogging site). This is exciting news because Murphy Pizza’s dissertation is about the history and formation of the Pagan community in the Twin Cities (aka “Paganistan”), so you could not ask for a better local commentator. In her first entry Pizza explains the unique character and long history of the Pagan community in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

“A number of years ago, one of the Pagan priests in the Twin Cities coined the name “Paganistan” for the long-lived and feisty Pagan community here. It was tongue-in-cheek, but the name has stuck; it’s a name that the Twin Cities Metro Area Pagans have proudly taken on as a moniker. Many people are surprised to hear that the Twin Cities boasts the second largest contemporary Pagan community in the US (only San Francisco’s Bay Area is larger). Often, they are equally surprised to discover that it has its formative roots as far back as 1972, when the Gnostica Bookstore was holding spiritual seeker classes on topics like magic, contemporary Witchcraft, and other occult traditions down on Hennepin Avenue … It isn’t only the size that makes Paganistan a unique and vibrant community. It also has been a religiously innovative community both in terms of the creation of traditions and practices, and in the way it expresses a diversity of paths and organizations.”

I wish Ms. Pizza a long and healthy blogging career. The Pagan blogosphere needs more local community-oriented coverage, so hopefully this will start something of a trend (I anxiously await Salem and Bay Area-centric blogs). So be sure to add her to your blogrolls and rss-readers ASAP!

Since the Yuletide season is fast approaching, I thought I would take some time this weekend to share some new book reviews in hopes that it might make your gift-giving preparations for Yule, Solstice, Saturnalia, or other Winter Festival, a bit easier.

Have you ever wondered why “The Exorcist” is scary? Why “The Wicker Man” managed to amass such a loyal following? Why even very bad horror films can sometimes affect us deeply? Then you need to read Douglas E. Cowan’s new book “Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen”.

“Sacred Terror examines the religious elements lurking in horror films. It answers a simple but profound question: When there are so many other scary things around, why is religion so often used to tell a scary story? In this lucid, provocative book, Douglas Cowan argues that horror films are opportune vehicles for externalizing the fears that lie inside our religious selves: of evil; of the flesh; of sacred places; of a change in the sacred order; of the supernatural gone out of control; of death, dying badly, or not remaining dead; of fanaticism; and of the power–and the powerlessness–of religion.”

Cowan has written an engrossing and deeply knowledgeable book analyzing the religious elements in horror films. Of particular interest to modern Pagan readers will be his exploration of the religious “other” in many of these films, particularly the way pre-Christian religion, Pagan revivals, and witchcraft (Satanic or otherwise) are treated in cinema, from “Rosemary’s Baby” to “The Craft”. An essential tome for anyone interested in the intersections between popular cinema and the sacred. A academic sequel of sorts to Stephen King’s more populist examination of horror: “Danse Macabre”. For more on this book, I highly recommend checking out the Theofantastique interviews with the author.

When I first approached Brendan Myers’ new book “A Pagan Testament: The Literary Heritage of the World’s Oldest New Religion” I thought it would be in the vein of “The Paganism Reader”, a collection of literary texts influential to the modern Pagan movement, and while that is indeed an element of the work, it takes far greater pains to contextualize and explain the philosophy behind the included sources. It also takes more time to explore the ever-evolving literary and oral traditions that have emerged from our modern festival circuit.

Originally entitled “A Wiccan Testament”, the book pays a great deal of attention to the literary history and influential texts of that religion. Which isn’t to say that non-Wiccan Pagans won’t find anything of value here, on the contrary, the book takes a sort of “Pan-Pagan” journey through history, from pre-history to the ancient Greeks, to an examination of Aleister Crowley’s influence on modern Paganism. A sequel of sorts to his thought-proving work “The Other Side of Virtue”, it envelops the more modern Pagan texts into a larger continuum of pagan thought. A map, an idea, of what modern Paganism can offer to the world.

“The contemporary pagan community, holding the Earth in such high regard as it does, is in a position to show the world what a spiritually aware, environmentally conscious, socially just, and artistically flourishing society looks like. The pagan community can create a social and cultural space where ancient noble ideas like ‘inspiration and honour’ are still preserved and
practiced.”

This is a bold and smart work. While Myers’ ideas may not resonate with everyone, he should be commended for being at the forefront of an effort to write better Pagan books. He, along with some other authors of note, are writing those “advanced” books we all keep saying we want (also, you might find my recent interview with Brendan Cathbad Myers to be of interest here).

The final work I’d like to discuss isn’t an academic tome, or a philosophic exploration of our Pagan beliefs, but a work of poetry and art. “The Phillupic Hymns” by P. Sufenas Virius Lupus is a collection of devotional poems and translations dedicated to the gods of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Gaul and Britain, with a special emphasis on Antinous, the deified lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. These poems explore the syncretism of the ancient world, the homo-erotic natures of many ancient gods and heroes, and the cultural tensions inherent when an imperial power interacts with those it has subjugated. These works seem accomplished, sincere, and passionate, but I’m no great judge of poetry, so instead of appearing foolish, let me instead share one of the shorter poems contained in this collection so you can judge for yourself.

Roma Aeterna
She was known across the continent,
in the east and in Greece
long before the pomerium was drawn
by Romulus and Remus.

The seven hills of Rome—
the Quirinal, Viminal, and Aventine,
Capitoline, Caelian, Palatine,
and Esquiline—mere Tiberian mud

when the lady first granted
her protection to mortals,
or guided Aeneas’ barque to
the shores of Latium.

She makes her home even now
in every stone of the Eternal City,
invited by Hadrian, given a dwelling
as neighbor to Venus Felix—

the mirror of amor—
reflecting the sunrise of the east
so that Roma Aeterna
may shine across the west.

In my estimation this is a worthy addition to the growing collection of titles to be found at the Bibliotheca Alexandria. A vital entry into a growing field of devotional literature within the modern Pagan movement. We can only hope that works like “The Phillupic Hymns” are only the beginning of a greater trend towards a modern Pagan artistic tradition.

My second and last day attending this three-day conference was considerably more hectic than the first. Lots of run-walking through hallways and catching the shuttle service between the two conference hotels. After a bit more time spent with the book publishers in the exhibition hall, and a quick coffee break with M. Macha Nightmare, I raced to the New Religious Movements Group to hear a presentation by three key figures in NRM scholarship. The group was presided over by Douglas Cowan, and featured presentations by Eileen Barker, founder of INFORM, Massimo Introvigne, founder of CESNUR, and J. Gordon Melton, founder of ISAR.

Eileen Barker and J. Gordon Melton.

It was clear that these figures, and their respective organizations, have had a large hand in steering religious scholarship away from the “anti-cult” and “countercult” mindset so prevalent a generation ago, and towards a more open-minded and fair appraisal of new religions. This hasn’t come without some criticism, and all have been accused of being apologists for various movements (most notably Melton, who has received a lot of criticism for defending Aum Shinrikyo during the investigation into the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway). Despite these setbacks, and resistance from those with an investment in counter-cult thinking, it is safe to say that minority religions today, including modern Pagan faiths, owe a debt to figures like Barker, Melton and Introvigne. It was indeed an honor to hear them give brief retrospectives of their work on NRMs.

With no time to waste, I rushed to the next session of the Contemporary Pagan Studies Group, in order to hear some of modern Paganism’s best living thinkers expound on “Polytheism in Theory”. Presided over by Nikki Bado-Fralick (who happens to be the president of Cherry Hill Seminary) the group featured presentations by Graham Harvey, author of “Listening People, Speaking Earth: Contemporary Paganism”, Constance Wise, author of “Hidden Circles in the Web: Feminist Wicca, Occult Knowledge, and Process Thought”, and Michael York, author of “Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion”.

Michael York speaking to a packed room.

To summarize their points would most likely do them all an injustice, so let me apologize in advance. Harvey discussed how Pagan religions are going through a process of “indigenization”, morphing from their esoteric origins into something far more animistic in practice. Wise endorsed process theology as a way to think about polytheism without creating an unnecessary mono/poly binary, or negating the beliefs of others. Finally, Michael York discussed polytheism, the anti-Decalogue stance of Pagan religions, human sacrifice in ancient pagan cultures, and how it is no longer necessary for modern Pagan cultures (though he did wonder, in our age of war and capital punishment if we have really moved away from ritual murder).

Sadly, after York finished, I had to dash to catch my train home. I also regret that some personal matters prevent me from attending presentations and talks on the third and final day of the conference, but even the small number of group sessions I attended left me with much to digest. It is impossible for one reporter to accurately summarize the vast amount of knowledge on display here, but I can say that the cutting edge of modern Pagan thought (and religious thought in general) can be glimpsed for those willing to brave the crowds. My only regret is that there weren’t two or three of me so I could have seen and heard more. Maybe next time.

For more AAR coverage, check out Michael Paulson’s article on a Harry Potter-themed session. Meanwhile youth minister Adam Walker discusses pluralism, and First Things gives a snarky acknowledgment of Wendy Doniger winning the 2008 Martin Marty Award for contributions to the public understanding of religion.

There is something a bit overwhelming about wandering amid 5000 (give or take) scholars and students of religion. Buddhist monks, Catholic nuns, indigenous practitioners, scores of Christians, and, of course, Pagans. Aside from wandering the impressive exhibit hall (featuring what seems like hundreds of publishers), where I managed to pick up Douglas Cowan’s new book “Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen”, I decided to play it safe and stick to meetings of the Contemporary Pagan Studies Group.

Jason Winslade adds a little ritual to the proceedings.

The first panel concentrated on the theme of “Talking with the Dead”, and featured a really fascinating exploration of Dia de los Muertos celebrations by Anne R. Key (who teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies), while Jason Winslade of DePaul University lit candles, ignited flash-paper, and donned various forms of headgear in order to illustrate his examination of ritual actions and drama (there was also a very nice presentation by fellow blogger Chas Clifton, and esteemed Pagan academic Wendy Griffin).


The “Polytheism in Practice” session participants.

After a restorative lunch, I then headed to the “Polytheism in Practice” session where three academics explored how various forms of polytheism are thriving in places like China, the Ukraine, and Italy. We were then treated to a thought-provoking response to these papers by David L. Miller, author of the highly influential “The New Polytheism: Rebirth of the Gods & Goddesses”. Miller challenged whether “polytheism” was an accurate term for this broad and diverse religious movement, wondered if it was an unnecessarily political binary with monotheism, and advocated for the term Kathenotheism as a more accurate marker. This lead to a spirited discussion from the audience, including challenges to his assertions on “serial worship” (and the unlikely occurrence of “true” polytheism) by Douglas Ezzy and Judy Harrow (among others).

So far this has been a remarkably thought-provoking and enriching experience. Sadly, feeling very tired and foot-sore by this point, I had to duck out and take the train back home for a much-needed constitutional. But I plan on being well rested for tomorrow’s sessions, and will, of course, share my impressions with you. For those of my readers missing my regular news round-ups, I plan on doing a massive “Halloween hangover” entry on Tuesday, so stay tuned!

Today and tomorrow I’ll be attending forums, sessions, and lectures at the American Academy of Religion’s 2008 Annual Meeting (in Chicago). The AAR is the world’s largest association of academics who research or teach topics related to religion, and their annual meeting has become a vital place to hear about the latest scholarship in the field of Pagan Studies (and just about every other religious and philosophical tradition as well). This year will feature an abundance of Pagan-friendly events, including the Contemporary Pagan Studies Group’s stellar-looking line-up of presentations.

“In places as diverse as Italy, China, the Ukraine, and the United States, we see groups of people turning away from established religious traditions to polytheism in a search for spiritual meaning. This defies the current linear model of religious progress and may signal a paradigm shift. This session explores polytheism in practice and focuses on places and communities where this development may not have been expected.”

A partial list of presenters shows a veritable who’s who of academic Pagan authors, including Chas Clifton, Wendy Griffin, Michael York, Nikki Bado-Fralick, and Graham Harvey (among others).

I’ll be attending as many Pagan-oriented presentations as I can, and will report back with some initial thoughts and (hopefully) photos. My only regret is that there is only one of me. It is downright cruel to make me choose between a series of themed presentations on Samhain/Halloween and one on art and esotericism that includes a paper on Dr. Strange!

“‘The Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth’ surveys representations of occult themes in American comic books from early horror comics to 21st century post-superhero stories, with a particular focus on the Doctor Strange character as developed during the 1960s and 70s ‘occult explosion.’ Notable aspects of the Doctor Strange protagonist and storyline include appeals to eclectically secularized supernatural entities, an understanding of dreams as a medium for communication with spirits, and esoteric Orientalism of the type associated with the Theosophical Society. These comics constitute an especially detailed documentation of a type of visual imagination actively developed to address notions of occult magic that are consistent with the forms that Robert Ellwood has theorized as ‘excursus religion.’ This study also proposes that the comics medium itself has also become more of an excursus literature, as its attention to occult topics has been sustained over the last four decades.”

Maybe I can run back and forth? Do people do that there? I guess I’ll have to find out. In addition to all that, I’ll get to meet some colleagues, online acquiescences, and fellow Pagan bloggers for the first time in the flesh (so to speak). So it should be a stimulating couple of days (and that’s not even counting the exhibit hall full of publishers). Stay tuned for my first official AAR update tomorrow.

An enduring idea within some modern Pagan communities is of a matriarchal golden age, a time when women, and their goddesses (or a singular “Great Goddess”), oversaw a time of peace and prosperity. This period in history is generally thought to have ended by the violent incursions of the Indo-European peoples (though some scholars argue the transition was more gradual and peaceful than previously thought). In our modern era, many have tried to prove or debunk the idea that a matriarchy would mean a more peaceful and cooperative society, with partisans on both sides of this issue firmly entrenched in their opinions.

A community of bonobo monkeys.

Now a new scientific study of our closest genetic relatives might just shed some more light on whether a female-dominated society would truly a more cooperative and peaceful one. This study (by Martin Surbeck and Gottfried Hohmann), focusing on the female-dominated bonobo society of monkeys, posits that they are just as violent as their patriarchal chimpanzees cousins, and actively hunt and kill other apes in the wild. At the I09 blog, Annalee Newitz briefly quotes evolutionary anthropologist Gottfried Hohmann concerning the findings.

“In chimpanzees, male-dominance is associated with physical violence, hunting, and meat consumption. By inference, the lack of male dominance and physical violence is often used to explain the relative absence of hunting and meat eating in bonobos. Our observations suggest that, in contrast to previous assumptions, these behaviors may persist in societies with different social relations.”

In other words, a variety of social hierarchies can conceivably result in a variety of behaviors, and no singular construction of society is necessarily immune from violent or aggressive behavior by its leaders. If studying primate behavior tells us anything at all about human behavior, it tells us that we shouldn’t take for granted that any particular societal construction was necessarily “better” or “more peaceful”. For every cooperative matriarchal society at peace with its surroundings, there could have been another that raided its neighbors, and engaged in behaviors usually associated with the more “violent” Indo-European invaders. Perhaps, in the end, humanity as a whole, no matter who is “on top” (societally speaking) will always struggle with the same failings and problems.

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

A lesson to politicians and public figures, if you’re going to hire a Voodoo priestess to curse an opponent, make sure you don’t bounce the checks paying for said services.

“[Cobb Commissioner Annette] Kesting wrote $3,000 in bad checks, allegedly for the services of a “high priestess of voodoo” to prepare an untimely demise for commissioner-elect Woody Thompson. Kesting wanted the priestess, identified by authorities as George Ann Mills of Blythewood, S.C., to cause Thompson to “catch cancer” or “have a car accident” according to a police report obtained by WSB-TV.”

Apparently Kesting was unhinged enough to not realize that leaving a paper-trail and an unhappy (and unpaid) priestess would come back to haunt her. Police are now investigating the matter.

Time Magazine reviews a new book about witch-hunts by John Demos entitled “The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World”. According to reviewer Gilbert Cruz, the book explores the inherent sexism and insular nature of witch-hunting.

“While the goal for all is separation from a despised ‘other,’ witch-hunting alone finds the other within its own ranks. The Jew, the black, and the ethnic opposite exist, in some fundamental sense, ‘on the outside’…The witch, by contrast, is discovered within the host community.”

According to Demos, the last “real” witch-hunts in the West were the 1982 Bakersfield “Satanic Ritual Abuse” convictions. A sad example of how the “Satanic Panics” led to innocent men and women spending years in prison.

While I’m on the subject of book reviews, Christian blogger and academic John Morehead reads and reviews the odious anti-Pagan smear-job of Linda Harvey’s “Not My Child: Contemporary Paganism and New Spirituality” so you don’t have to.

“Just like other parts of society we evangelicals in our subculture create our own monsters. One of our leading monsters at present seems to be Paganism. Islam and homosexuality are other creatures in our laboratory. I wonder why we create them. That we do can hardly be denied when we consider the plethora of books we write on the topic and the sensationalist tone that often accompanies them. One of the tricky things about monsters is that they often come back to haunt their creators. Sometimes they ask us some thorny questions too … what does evangelical monstrous creation and resultant fear of stereotypical Paganism tell us about ourselves? I’m afraid if we reflect on this monster we may not like the answers.”

John, who edited the groundbreaking “Beyond the Burning Times”, is quickly becoming my go-to filter for books about Paganism written by Christians. You should also check out his review of “Generation Hex: Understanding the Subtle Dangers of Wicca” (an anti-Pagan book I explored here previously).

Remember my post a week ago about the rock-opera treatment of “The Wicker Man” currently playing in San Francisco? Well, fellow Pagan blogger Mertseger recently attended the production and has posted a review.

“Essentially, this stage production is The Wicker Man (1973) minus the music of Paul Giovanni plus the music of Jim Fourniadis … All in all, the show is well worth the price, and I recommend Bay Area Pagans checking it out. If you like the 1973 film, then this show is a lively and small variation on the same material. Be sure to bring a beer in a brown paper bag (or you will feel horribly out of fashion) and enjoy the romp.”

I recommend reading the entirety of this well-written review. If only more Pagan-centric arts criticism could be so erudite.

In a final note, both Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion and Modemac’s Bulldada Newsblog take note of a story in which an academic thesis on racist Odinist/Satanist Kerry Bolton was pulled from the library of a New Zealand college after he complained.

“Waikato University has abruptly pulled a student’s thesis from its library after complaints from the subject of the research – a right-wing extremist. The thesis, exploring satanic and neo-Nazi themes, had already been marked and published, earning its author top marks … The newspaper said it established that no legal threat had been received against either Mr Van Leeuwen or the University of Waikato. Rather, the thesis was the subject of a mere complaint from Kerry Bolton. Professor Bing told Nexus the thesis was a first-class piece of work, and was externally moderated by other universities before being published.”

So an extremist writes in a complaint about a thesis regarding him, and despite rigorous vetting of said thesis for accuracy (by multiple institutions), it’s pulled? Has the University of Waikato no spine? If every thesis that the subjects of research didn’t entirely approve of got pulled, modern academia would very likely grind to a standstill. As for Roel van Leeuwen (himself a member of several occult and esoteric Orders and Societies), the author of the thesis, he stands by his work.

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

According to sociologist Dr Kristin Aune, Christian churches in England have been losing 50,000 women members per year since 1989, and some of the blame can be placed on the shoulders of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy and Willow. Art by Jo Chen

“Today’s modern woman sees more relevance in TV icons who promote female empowerment such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, than in church and traditional religion, according to new research to be published in the Church Times this week. Dr Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby, says the church (all Christian denominations) must act to halt the steep decline in female attendance at services across the country. She says: ‘In short, women are abandoning the church.’”

So if all these women are leaving the pews, where are they going? To Wicca and Paganism of course!

“It says that instead young women are becoming attracted to the pagan religion Wicca, where females play a central role, which has grown in popularity after being featured positively in films, TV shows and books. The report’s author, Dr Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby, said: … ‘Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church.’”

Aune’s research, which appears in the book “Women and Religion in the West: Challenging Secularization”, also cites English Church Census data that claims teenage boys outnumber girls in the pews for the first time in history.

“Over the past decade, it claims, women have been leaving churches at twice the rate of men. In addition, the census is said to show that teenage boys now outnumber girls in the pews for the first time. Dr Aune says the church must adapt to the needs of modern women if it is to stop them leaving in their droves.”

So in short, while old men argue about whether women can be bishops, or if gays should be treated like human beings, the women have been leaving in droves to faiths that are more relevant to their lives. You can all do the reproductive math and figure out what happens to a religious tradition with a shortage of women. Somehow I don’t think introducing “Saturday morning breakfast clubs” will stem the tide. Maybe if they gave out free Buffy comics?