Top Story: Newspapers in Washington have been giving a lot of coverage to the death of Sherry Harlan, stabbed to death and then dismembered by her jealous ex-boyfriend Eric James Christensen. While serious crimes often get coverage in local papers, this one is getting special attention for its savagery, and the reason Christensen has given for murdering Harlan.

“Christensen told detectives that he’d found similar messages on Harlan’s phone weeks earlier and that she’d promised to cease contact with the man. To seal the deal, Christensen said he and Harlan had gone through a “blood oath” ceremony. “He said that in ‘ancient times’ people that broke similar vows were sometimes killed,” a sheriff’s detective wrote of the conversation. Christensen said that on Jan. 2, when he confronted Harlan about the messages, the argument became physical and they traded blows. He told detectives that because she’d broken the oath, Harlan “in Scottish … would be what’s known as a warlock, which is evil, a traitor, an enemy,” court papers said.”

The Daily Herald piece quoted above is to be praised, as they avoided the sensationalist and dubious term “Wiccan blood oath” repeated by several papers and news outlets in the initial wake of the story breaking.

“Prosecutors said Christensen told police that Harlan had broken a “Wiccan blood oath” she had made to break off a relationship with another man.”

Only local NBC affiliate King5 actually sought out a member of the Everett Pagan community for comment on the story, Jeri Schaible, who had once dated the abusive Christensen. Schaible confirms that both were studying Wicca, but points out that Christensen should not be considered a Wiccan as he doesn’t adhere to the Wiccan Rede. No paper, television outlet, or site has interviewed any local Pagan leaders or organizers for background, or to comment on the “blood oath”. This, despite the fact that the Seattle area is full of Pagans (and there’s a regular Pagan meetup in Everett), as is the Pacific Northwest in general.

There is little doubt that Christensen will be going to prison for life, as the man who helped him hide the body parts is testifying against him in exchange for immunity. With his capture and conviction ensured, now is the time to gain context for the sensationalist religious statements made by Christensen. Will the press step up here? I can’t imagine a killer invoking a “Christian blood oath” without local Christian clergy being consulted. As for Sherry Harlan, may her spirit find rest, may her killer be punished, and may her friends and family find closure.

In Other News:

Clash of Faiths in Haiti: Religious tensions are mounting in Haiti between Christian aid groups and Vodou practitioners. First, Vodou leader Max Beauvoir claims that evangelical Christians are monopolizing aid, and showing favoritism towards their own instead of fairly distributing food and water.

“Max Beauvoir, Haiti’s “supreme master” of voodoo, alleged his faith’s opponents had deliberately prevented much-needed help from reaching followers of the religion, which blends the traditional beliefs of West African slaves with Roman Catholicism. “The evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves,” he claimed. “They have the advantage that they control the airport where everything is stuck. They take everything they get to their own people and that’s a shame.”

He alleges these groups are using food to “buy souls”, taking advantage of the chaos in order to win converts. Meanwhile, the case of 10 Baptists from two different congregations in America, who are accused of trafficking Haitian children for the purposes of adoption, is only fueling accusations that protestant Christian groups have one primary objective, convert, convert, convert.

“Some critics say the race to remove Haiti’s children is culturally insensitive, if not downright illegal. Others are offended by the prospect of children from a Catholic culture being airlifted into evangelical institutions or families — losing their faith along with their families.”

You can be sure that the uneasy situation created by the increasing growth of evangelical and pentecostal denominations in the predominately Catholic-Vodou continuum of Haiti will only increase now that mission-minded groups see the earthquake as an “opportunity” for growth and conversion. It could not only radicalize Vodou practitioners in Haiti, but it could also create massive rifts between protestant and Catholic groups. And the longer that Haiti’s government is hobbled, the worse the problem may become.

Air Force Academy Gets A Circle: Last Thursday I reported on the Air Force Academy installing an outdoor worship area for Pagan and Wiccan cadets, a move that has been generally praised within the Pagan community. Since then the story has been picked up by national media outlets (I’m sure NewsBusters is pleased), and is now being used by some right-wing pundits as a stick to hit President Obama with.

“U.S. President Barack Obama, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, wants to make the Air force Academy more inclusive for people practicing occult pagan witchcraft. Hence, he’s willing to increase the federal government’s record-breaking debt to fund a chapel that will add a circle to be utilized as a worship area for so-called “Earth-centered religions, during a dedication ceremony” that is tentatively scheduled for March 10.”

Well, first off, Obama had nothing to do with the Air Force Academy building a stone circle (military bureaucracy just doesn’t move that fast), but even if he had, that’s a pretty weak “Obama the Democrat is spending too much” argument. Thankfully, not all conservative pundits see equal treatment for religions within the military as a bad thing.

“Our Constitution affords us the right to practice any religion we would like, I think that should be especially true for anyone in the military who is willing to serve and sacrifice for us. Do I agree with pagan religions like Wicca? No. But those who have chosen to serve their country, and have joined the Air Force Academy deserve a proper worship area just like any other religious faith.”

You don’t have to like Wicca or Paganism, but to deny we should have equal treatment goes against everything America stands for, no matter what groups like WallBuilders may claim.

The New Age Sweat Lodge Death Controversy: Self-help author Jonathan Ellerby, who seems better educated and more respectful of Native practices than most in his line of work, answers some key questions about sweat lodges that have arisen since three people died in a sweat ceremony led by New Age huckster James Arthur Ray.

“I personally do not think or feel that non-Native people should run Native lodges. Too many Native traditions have been borrowed and stolen from Native Peoples only to be misused, sold or poorly conducted. These are very powerful and culturally sacred practices and it’s a deep act of disrespect just to “copy” the practices of another tradition. You wouldn’t see a group of Native people pretending to be able to read Hebrew or making up fake Hebrew sounding songs in a building they called a synagogue. It’s absurd. Worse, Native people have been the victims of cultural appropriation and attack for 500 years. To take without permission, training or blessing is just an insult. However, yes, I do think that ceremonial steam baths have something to offer all people and if done well, a non-Native “sweat lodge” for non-Native people can be a very important, healing and beautiful thing.”

It is distinctly refreshing to see someone from the self-help/New Age/spirituality community come out in defense of the integrity of Native religion and spirituality. As Ellerby points out, if you want a sweat/steam ceremony, there are ways of designing one without simply aping American Indian traditions and slapping a different label on them. As for James Arthur Ray, he gave his first-ever interview since the incident last week. In it, he claims no responsibility for the deaths, but says that “his ego has been adjusted by the experience”. You know what else adjusts the ego? A court trial and punishment for negligent homicide.

Meanwhile, the Angel Valley Retreat Center is doing a little damage-control and CYA of its own, insisting that the sweat-lodge’s construction was not to blame (Ray has been insinuating that’s where the blame lies). We still await word on criminal charges in this case.

Art & the Tarot: In a final note, Erik Davis writes about tarot for HiLobrow, praising and analyzing the work of Rider-Waite artist Pamela Colman Smith.

“Since its appearance, the so-called Rider-Waite deck has sold gazillions of copies, inspiring brooding hermeticists and teenage Goths alike, and stamping its enigmatic images onto such key 20th century artifacts as T. S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland,” the classic noir Nightmare Alley, and the inner gatefold of Led Zeppelin’s fourth album. The Rider-Waite deck earns a so-called because the name — which has been trade-marked by US Games, the current (and controversial) copyright holder — ignores the artistic contribution of Pamela Colman Smith, an American illustrator and occult initiate whose nickname, Pixie, seems preternaturally on target in light of the most widely-reproduced photograph of the woman.”

I’ve often bemoaned the lack of emphasis and credit to female artists like Smith, or Lady Frieda Harris, without whom the tarot theories of famous (male) occultists like A.E. Waite or Aleister Crowley would have remained in books, and largely unexamined by a popular audience. Today, tarot artists are more widely feted and acknowledged as equal partners in the design and creation of new decks, instead of being treated as silent partners, or hired help, by tarot theorists and designers.

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

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.

Top Story: Outed Pagan political candidate Alice Richmond has closed down her local-issues blog, Page County Watch, and is seemingly retiring from the public eye.

“Last week the voice of the Page County Watch Blog went silent as Alice Richmond, the resident who started the blog, decided to move on. “I’m moving on to other things,” said Richmond. “I don’t want anyone to Google my name anymore.” The site gained attention most recently in September when on a local radio show, Richmond was questioned about her religion and the author known as “Lady Raya.” Richmond later admitted she was using the name Lady Raya as a pseudonym to write books on Wiccan practices.”

Richmond’s race for a seat on Page County Virginia’s Board of Supervisors seemed to get hostile from the start, with the staged ambush-outing of her “Lady Raya” pen-name by political opponents on a local talk show shrouding her candidacy with sensationalism. After a losing the election by a wide margin, a palpably disappointed Richmond inferred that the county was suffering from “Stockholm Syndrome”, noting that the vote wasn’t close. Considering the emotional wringer she’s been through, I don’t blame her for wanting to withdraw from public, though I do mourn the loss of a Pagan willing to enter into the political fray.  I fear that her campaign, and Dan Halloran’s, proves that out (or outed) Pagan candidates will have to deal with ugly smears from opponents (even if the tactic backfires) unafraid to exploit religious fears.

In Other News: Kathy Nance at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch brings us a local angle to the “Pagans at the Parliament” story by focusing on the ceremonial rattles created by local artist Julee Higginbotham for the interfaith event.

“On this first full day of the Parliament of World Religions (PWR) in Melbourne, Australia, a group of Pagans met to give blessings to four rattles created by St. Louis artist Julee Higginbotham. The rattles, called “Bridge to the Meeting Place,” were created to symbolize the coming together of religions and people from around our planet. Julee has blended Aboriginal and Neo-Pagan symbols into a clay prayer for understanding. They will be given to Pagans from North America and Australia, and to two PWR delegates. She got the idea from Pagan delegate and PWR board member Angie Buchanan.”

You can read more about these rattles at the Pagans at the Parliament blog, where you can see daily updates about the Pagan presence at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne.

Are you a Pagan metal-head? If so, this is your lucky day, because two documentaries that touch on Pagan/Heathen religion within different metal subcultures are being released. “Pagan Metal:  A Documentary”, and “Until the Light Takes Us”, which focuses on the controversial Norwegian black metal scene.

“In addition to exploring the origins and ideology of black metal, Aites and Ewell examine black metal as what Norwegian visual artist Bjarne Melgaard calls “Norway’s only culturally relevant phenomenon.” Melgaard, who recontextualizes black metal aesthetics in his art, explores the striking parallel between the emotional extremes of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and the album cover of Darkthrone’s “Transilvanian Hunger.” “Until the Light Takes Us” succeeds because it neither idolizes nor patronizes the artists involved.”

Considering the fact that a movie is being made about one of black metal’s most controversial figures, a less sensationalist documentary, academic in tone, certainly seems welcome at this point. As for “Pagan Metal: A Documentary”, it’s more informal, and had a reviewer comment that “you will feel like you have made new friends”. Both seem welcome assets for those wanting to explore Pagan and Heathen spirituality in underground subcultures.

The Good Blog gives props to Archdruid (and blogger) John Michael Greer for a piece he wrote on adopting a new model of “energy productivity” instead of the per-worker-hour standard.

“This isn’t the first time our common economic metrics have been challenged. GDP gets criticized all the time (and for good reason). But Greer makes a great point about the need for resource efficiency—especially energy efficiency—to be incorporated into the statistics we use to measure our country’s economic success. After all, we live in a world of limited resources. Acknowledging that in our numbers isn’t just about giving environmentally-friendly countries a pat on the back. It’s a real indication of how well-prepared a country is to deal with costly constraints. Apparently these days it takes a druid and Tarot grandmaster to point that out to all the Ivy League B-school grads on Wall Street. Strange times.”

Indeed it does sometimes take a different view-point to actually think “outside the box”, and who better than a (wise) Druid to address issues of resource efficiency and economics as we approach the end our the industrial age? For more on Greer’s religious activities, check out the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA) web site.

In a final note, I think the University of Iowa may have the coolest name ever for their Pagan student organization.

“The mention of the term “pagan” often connotes thoughts of the dark arts, ritual sacrifices, and any number of Goth stereotypes. But for UI senior Kirk Cheyney, it’s not about any such thing. It’s more about nature and a deep personal spirituality that he can share with his family. Cheyney serves as the president of the Society of Pagans Invested in Reviving Ancient Lifestyles, which bills itself as the UI’s pagan student union.”

I think we could use more creative acronyms in modern Paganism, especially for college students! Congrats to S.P.I.R.A.L. for making it happen (all you other campus groups better step up).

That’s all I have for now, don’t forget to check the Pagans at the Parliament blog for the latest updates and links from Melbourne. We have a new post now up from Selena Fox, and Thorn Coyle has just sent in another dispatch as well. You can also stay on top of things with the Pagans at the Parliament Twitter feed and Facebook page. Have a great day!

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The Nigerian newspaper NEXT runs an editorial by Tam Fiofori that reminds us that the Pentecostal fervor in Africa that is feeding the horrific witch-hunts against women, children, and the elderly, is also waging a larger cultural war that brands indigenous and tribal-inspired art as demon-possessed.

“Sometimes the righteous attitudes of ardent followers of the ‘new religion’ border on the ridiculous. Take the case of artist Tony Akinbola who is doing a wonderful job of creatively rebranding Calabar through indigenous-related monumental art. When he put up his work of huge Ikom monoliths as a monumental tribute to artists who about a century ago demonstrated that they could portray vivid human facial expressions on stone carvings, ironically, members of the same Pentecostal faith he belongs to, saw the huge monoliths as an affront celebrating devil-worship. Soon after the monumental monoliths were put up at a strategic roundabout in Calabar, members of his faith held a prayer session around the monumental art piece “casting and binding the demons” supposedly inhabiting the monoliths.”

Fiofori points out that by contrast the local Catholic church is actually quite tolerant of indigenous themes in art and culture being incorporated into a Christian context, but not the “new religion” of Pentecostal Christianity, and as it spreads it is destroying the artistic culture of the countries it infects.

“Aino Oni-Okpaku – member of the Board of Trustees of the Ben Enwonwu Foundation and a Swedish-born Nigerian art-lover and owner of the Quintessence outfit in Falomo Ikoyi – has depressing stories of how the ‘new religion’ has literarily poisoned the minds of Nigerians towards their traditional and contemporary arts. She tells of a collector who had bought an artwork from an exhibition at the Quintessence Gallery and had gone on to prominently display the artwork in his office for pleasure and inspiration. His wife visited his office, saw the artwork, took it away in anger and burnt it because it was demonic…”

This newly instilled anti-traditionalism also marred an art show held in honor of the recently passed Suzanne Wenger, the Austrian-born iconic Yoruba traditional religion devotee who helped win protection for the Osun-Osogbo sacred grove. With many refusing to enter on the grounds that the pieces were “demonic”.

Sadly there seems to be little to stop this trend at the moment, the popular “Nollywood” film industry has regularly made traditional African religions the enemy, and some local indigenous religious leaders have bleak outlooks concerning the future.

“Christianity has destroyed our culture. The people have lost faith in our ancient gods and values. The pastors go to church in the morning and preach Christianity, and in the evening they come to me and speak with their forefathers. Christianity cannot compete with our ancestors. Your God is impotent against Shango, the god of thunder and lightning. That’s why the Christian pastors in Nigeria all die so young. Oh well, that’s how things are nowadays. Nothing’s free in life except death.”

The issue of art and culture may seem trivial in the face of an international epidemic of witch hunts, but in many cases that is where the poison of intolerance enters the cultural system. If you believe that all manifestations of your traditional culture and religion are actually demon-haunted and evil, it changes the way you think and feel. We overlook the plight of artists, storytellers, and writers in these situations because they (understandably) don’t have the same human dimension as the now-ongoing horrific tragedies often perpetrated in the name of the “new religion”, but the more culture is remade, the more permanent the damage done, and the more remote the chances of reversal.

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

In South Africa, News 24 interviews Damon Leff of the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) concerning recent comments by ANC MP Adrian Williams (an “out” Pagan politician) that modern Pagans in South Africa should abandon attempts to reclaim the term “Witch” due to its (sometimes violently) negative associations in the country.

“SAPRA rejected Williams’s views on the use of the word “witch”, saying communities must be educated about other people’s religious beliefs and practices. “While Williams self-identifies as pagan, it should be noted that he has no mandate to speak on behalf of all the witches in South Africa,” said SAPRA director, Damon Leff.”

The piece also interviews a representative of the Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) who sympathizes with SAPRA’s goals, and feels that while it might be possible for the term to be used and reclaimed among white South Africans,  colonialist framing of the term “witch” has made reclaimation all but impossible among black South Africans. What’s clear is that this issue isn’t going away any time soon, and it remains to be seen if some sort of “dual understanding” equilibrium over terminology can be reached.

The Lancaster Sunday News has the official follow-up from the showdown in Stoudtburg Village, which pitted a planned Pagan festival against Christian protesters and shop-owners closing to avoid serving Pagan customers.

“Witches and pagans who traveled to Adamstown on Saturday for a festival “Celebrating Earth Spirituality” were greeted by a steady rain and praying Christians in a silent protest. The gathering held at Stoudtburg Village and hosted by Reading Pagans & Witches proved to far less controversial than the debate that brewed in the days leading up to it … Jen Anderson-Wenger, president of Reading Pagans & Witches, said several church groups “laid hands on us and prayed.” She said she was pleased at the turnout, and said her group was received “very peacefully”.”

You can read Jen Anderson-Wenger’s report on the festival, here. The Reading Pagans & Witches site has also posted a list of businesses that stayed open for them. It should be interesting to see what the long-term ramifications of this event will be. Will some stores that closed down end up regretting it? Have local perceptions of who modern Pagans are changed any? It would nice to see some follow-up on those questions.

The Boston Globe’s Articles of Faith blog reports on the massive new Hindu Temple of Minnesota, and the various issues that the growing numbers of American Hindus (1.5 – 2 million estimated) face.

“This temple is unlike anything you would see in India — there, temples are typically centered on a single deity, but because this is the U.S., where the Hindu community hails from all over India as well as the Hindu diaspora, the temple opted for a variety of shrines to meet the needs and devotional practices of a diverse group of worshipers … The biggest challenge, of course, is transmitting the faith from immigrants, most of whom grew up in a predominantly Hindu society, to their children, who are growing up in a predominantly Christian society.”

Reporter Michael Paulson also notes that the Hindu community in America is used to worship being a personal matter, and is still adjusting to the American tradition of clergy speaking out publicly on social and political issues. In the coming years it should be interesting to see how Hindu clergy in America start to adapt to Western expectations of what religious leaders do, and what the leaders that do spring to the forefront want to say. I wanted to highlight this article because there are some strong similarities between the Hindu community’s emergence into the American mainstream and our own. We should pay attention to how they grow and change, because the modern Pagan movement will be facing similar issues as our numbers start to rival theirs.

Canadian magazine The Walrus takes a look at the Theosophist and Transcendentalist beliefs of the Group of Seven,  a fellowship of influential landscape painters in the 1920s who were influenced by European Impressionism.

“Cosmic consciousness might seem an awfully thin rod to hang a flag from, but given the checkered history of nationalist experiments in the twentieth century, that may have been a godsend. During the 1920s and ’30s, when Germans were falling for a myth of the mystical superiority of the Nordic race, Canadian Theosophists were promoting a quaint, aristocratic mysticism that privileged the wisdom of colonized peoples and taught the values of internationalism and universal brotherhood.”

It’s a fascinating exploration of how the Canadian art world became infatuated with Theosophy and how that relationship influenced the art that was made. “New Age”, occult, indigenous, and modern Pagan religions and philosophies have had such a great impact on the history of art that I’m surprised we haven’t seen more explorations of the topic. It’s certainly true that we still await a good overview of fine art and illustration influenced (and created) by modern Paganism, something that I hope I don’t have to wait too long to see remedied.

Three Roman-era statues of Aphrodite have been discovered at the Israeli archaeological site of Hippos, excavators speculate they were hidden by worshipers of the goddess during the rise of Christianity in the 4th century CE.

“It is possible that during the fourth century [CE], when Christianity was gradually becoming the governing religion in the Roman Empire, there were still a number of inhabitants in Sussita who remained loyal to the goddess of love and therefore wished to hide and preserve these items,” suggests Prof. Segal.

No word yet on what will be done with the statues, or if they’ll eventually be put on display. If I were a devotee of Aphrodite I might see the recovery of these intact statues as some sort of sign or miracle, proof of her enduring power. It is, after all, how many Christians see the recovery of their ancient artifacts.

In a final note, there’s a new Pagan e-zine starting up called “Eternal Haunted Summer”.

“Eternal Haunted Summer is the only ezine of its kind: one which gives voice to modern devotion to the many Gods and Goddesses of our ancestors. Poems and stories celebrating the Deities and heroes of the Celts, Norse, Germans, Romans, Etruscans, Greeks, Phoenicians, Canaanites, Sumerians, Egyptians and many, many, many others are all welcome. If you have been inspired to write a poem honoring Apollo or Brigid or Enki; or a short story about Inanna or El or Jove; or if you have written a review about a book or journal with a Pagan focus, please consider submitting it here. Our first official issue will go live on the Winter Solstice 2009, with quarterly updates on each subsequent Equinox and Solstice.”

I wish them every success and hope the poets and writers who read the The Wild Hunt will check them out.

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

The Hindu has a fascinating article up about the artisans who create idols of the various Hindu deities. As you can imagine, it isn’t merely a job, but a holy undertaking.

“I can never fully express the joy and satisfaction I feel when I see the deity in all her/ his glory being prayed to by hundreds of devotees. The metamorphosis of a dull lump of clay to a vibrant throbbing god is an incredible process and it’s an honour to be a catalyst in this transformation,” says an emotional Vishwanath. A day in the life of an idol maker is marked by strict self-discipline, both physical and mental. “We bathe at dawn, get into fresh clothes and say a small prayer before embarking on idol making as often our work require us to stand/ stamp/ climb the idols. We also try and abstain from all worldly addictions in this period,” says Biswajeet Pal, one of Vishwanath’s chief helpers.”

It is important to note that traditionally made idols in the Hindu tradition are treated quite differently than mass-produced statuary. Once completed and “awakened” they are considered “alive” with the essence of the god or goddess in question. They must be fed with offerings and cared for, and once planted/rooted in a temple, never moved.

In a related story, the Indian district administration in Varanasi has prohibited the application of hazardous chemical paints during this years Navatri (when nine forms of female divinity are worshiped) to cut down on pollutants in the sacred Ganga/Ganges river.

“In a path breaking move to contain contamination of the holy Ganga due to immersion of idols laden with chemical paints and colours during Dussehra, the district administration has put a ban on the use hazardous chemical paints on idols during this Navratra. While the prohibitory order calls for ban of application of synthetic chemical paints on the idols of Goddess Durga and other deities during the festivity, the district administration is also looking for ways to promote the use of eco-friendly natural colours (obtained from leaves and flowers of some plants) on the occasion.”

In a land where millions of devotees immerse their idols into the Ganges, such changes could have a dramatic effect on pollution levels in the river. Both of these stories give us a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes activities that feed into a thriving religion of nearly a billion worldwide.

The Columbia Daily Tribune covers a just-opened University of Missouri’s Museum of Art and Archeology exhibit entitled “The Sacred Feminine: Prehistory to Post-Modernity”. The show not only looks at art that reflects women’s role in religion, but curator Benton Kidd has also organized a national symposium centered on themes from the exhibition.

“To fully explore both tensions and universalities, Kidd has collaborated with other parts of the university to move observers past a simply visceral, visual experience and stimulate community conversation. The most ambitious and prominent of these efforts will come at a national symposium on Oct. 16 and 17. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, author and Georgetown University professor, will be the keynote speaker. Apostolos-Cappadona has been interviewed on television and in documentaries, discussing her take on the books of “The DaVinci Code” author Dan Brown. The event will incorporate both distinguished local scholars — MU Professors Robert Baum and Kristin Schwain — and experts from other major universities, speaking on topics almost as wide-ranging as the exhibit itself — everything from African female prophets to the cult of virgin martyrs, Cleopatra’s divinity to the role of females in Tantric sex rituals.”

Perhaps inspired by Kidd’s efforts to build such a far-reaching conversation concerning the sacred feminine, the Columbia Daily Tribune sent out questionnaires concerning gender and religion to area women. The first two respondents were artist Gennie Pfannenstiel, who is giving talks at the exhibit and holding a showing of her own work exploring the sacred feminine at a local gallery, and Taz Chance, a member of the local Wiccan church and nature preserve Ozark Avalon. The contrasting answers between an artist who feels the “sacred feminine is a divine source of knowing the feminine aspect of creation and existence”, and an explicitly Pagan goddess-worshipper are fascinating.

Pfannenstiel: Knowing that we are all children of our Earthmother makes me more compassionate and allows me to see more clearly the importance of my path for serving others, especially children — a Madonna role. My spirituality grounds me by revealing to me my true self so that I can stand tall and strong as a pillar, Isis-like. I am Grandmother Spider spinning my web of life.

Chance: Because I worship an Earth-centered religion I find that I am more connected to the ideals of the sacred feminine than those women who are in the more traditional spiritual roles. I am allowed to openly recognize my connection to the Goddess without and the Goddess within.

I assume that these respondents are merely the first to be profiled in the paper, and that more will be run as questionnaires trickle in during the exhibition’s run. Kudos to the Columbia Daily Tribune for going the extra mile in seeking out community voices for this piece, and including a Pagan perspective right off the bat. As for the exhibition and forthcoming symposium, they both sound fascinating, and will no doubt be a special treat for those living in or near Columbia, Missouri.

A helpful reader pointed out this thoughtful and insightful essay by Louis A. Ruprecht at Religion Dispatches about the politics of plunder, repatriation, and display of classical pagan art. At the center of the story is the controversy over who owns the Elgin Marbles (Britain or Greece) that were looted from the Athenian Parthenon and Acropolis.

“What is clear is that Lord Elgin used his position as ambassador to Istanbul to gain access to the Athenian Akropolis — as well as the right to remove objects from the temple for further study. It is not clear that the sultan who granted the permission imagined Elgin taking these things away permanently, but that is what Elgin arranged. The Greeks object that the Turks had no business giving Greek marbles away, but of course, then our quarrel is with the whole structure of nineteenth century gunpowder imperialism. To demand the return of all such ill-gotten goods would hasten the end of the modern public art museum as we know it today. But again, the Greeks insist that this case is unique, not a precedent-setter.”

What makes this essay so unique as opposed to other break-downs over the controversy concerning the marbles is Ruprecht’s willingness to explore the strange reality of pagan sacred objects becoming secularized “national treasures” used to reflect the glory of the  (often Christian-dominated) nations that posses them.

“That religious statuary has been re-conceived as national treasure is but one of the oddities — and one of the transformations — managed by the modern public art museum … Lord Elgin looted an ancient Greek temple in the name of British glory, installing the marbles eventually in a new kind of modern shrine, a museum. Athens has now built a glorious new museum to hold the marbles Lord Elgin did not take, in tandem with plaster casts of the ones that are still in London. The Greeks are now demanding the return of all the marbles, which would tear a very large hole in the British Museum collection. In all of these debates about history and national identity, about national treasure and the virtues of repatriation—and very much as Quatremère lamented—it is the ancient religiosity of the pieces that have been lost to view.”

Stranger still, is the irony of a Greek Orthodox Church who supports these (now safely secularized) pagan temple items being restored to their country, yet want to edit a museum film showing the many indignities and damages wrought on the Parthenon by ancient Christians.

“The animated segment showed figures clad in black climbing up ladders and destroying part of the Parthenon frieze; the scene referred to well-documented episodes of destruction that took place in the early Byzantine period (5th-8th centuries A.D.), when Christians often demolished monuments and temples belonging to the old pagan era. Many parts from those temples were used to build churches. The Parthenon itself suffered some damage but was spared a worse fate by being converted into a church. Church officials contended the film misrepresented the attitude of the Greek Orthodox Church toward Greece’s ancient heritage.”

Though, after an outpouring of outrage and accusations of censorship, the film is being restored.

“Greece’s new Acropolis Museum on Tuesday said it will undo controversial editing of a video showing the Parthenon temple vandalised by early Christians in a row that has sparked complaints of Church-backed censorship. The video will be restored after its maker, renowned French-Greek filmaker Costa-Gavras, said he meant to attach no blame to Christian priests for the destruction, museum director Dimitris Pantermalis said.”

In the closing of his essay, Ruprecht warns that “when religion is deleted from the museum, it tends to be replaced by nationalism”. These objects, objects that were once part of a thriving religious culture, are now treasures used to reflect the glory of the nations and politicians who posses them. Can we honor the pagan religious past contained within these items instead of devolving into mere nationalism and historical revisionism? Must we destroy the temple to make a museum?

Mythical and Arcadian motifs in opera, classical music, and ballet are nothing new, but it’s always nice to remember that choreographers and composers have been mining these rich themes for generations. For instance, The New York Times reviews the American Ballet Theater’s revival production of “Sylvia” (aka “Sylvia ou La Nymphe de Diane”) and revels in the pure pagan pageantry of it all.

“The crescent, the moon, the horn and the hunt all tie brilliantly into Act I of “Sylvia,” which Ashton choreographed in 1952 and which American Ballet Theater has revived this week at the Metropolitan Opera House. The score is by Léo Delibes. Blow that horn! Or rather, those horns! None of the many hunts in music-drama prepare us for the full blaze that comes with the entrance of this ballet’s huntresses and, finally, Sylvia herself … No character in all ballet — and few in music drama — enters to more splendid music than Sylvia. She and her friends leap and do whipped (fouetté) turns, and the ballet moves into a new kind of scale and energy. Nobody has time to think what this says about gender stereotypes. The huntresses and pastoral hero of “Sylvia” were conceived not by Ashton in 1952 but by Delibes and his Paris colleagues in 1876, when Degas was painting ballet dancers and when, most of us tend to think, ballet stereotypes were thick on the ground.”

This ballet of pagan huntresses in love went on to inspire other works, including the more well-known “Swan Lake”. It’s lovely to see this unique gem get some attention (especially with themes that would delight the Pagan soul), if you’re in New York and want to see experience “Sylvia”, it’s running through Saturday at The Met.

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

It looks like crazy and criminal Pagans in the courtroom come in threes. First there was the horrific occult-tinged child murders perpetrated by Lawrence Harris, then the crazy attempted murder ring-leader  Terisa “Red Phoenix” Davidson, and now a jury is beginning deliberations in the case of Kathleen Hilton. Hilton, a Wiccan grandmother, allegedly set fire to her son’s estranged girlfriend’s apartment building, killing five occupants.

Hilton has been behind bars since her arrest shortly after the tragic fire. During the trial, she testified to hearing voices. To refute such claims, the state introduced testimony from forensic psychologist Tali Walters, who was appointed by the court to determine if Hilton was competent to stand trial. Less than a month after the fire, Walters interviewed Hilton on three occasions at Taunton State Hospital. At trial, Walters recalled Hilton talking extensively about witchcraft and her spiritual beliefs in Wicca. Hilton also mentioned during those interviews that she had communicated with a tribal council of dead Native Americans, Walters said. Despite these assertions, Walters concluded that Hilton was not suffering psychosis or a mental illness.

What is interesting about this tragic case from a legal standpoint is that it asserts that adherence to Wicca or belief in spirit communications doesn’t equate to a psychosis or a mental illness. If Pagans, Wiccan, and occult believers aren’t crazy for the purposes of prosecutions, that could mean that they can’t be considered crazy in custody cases or as witnesses.

Psychics aren’t the only ones experiencing a slight uptick in business. The Palm Beach Post has an article about a local Botanica that is seeing increased business in this economic downturn.

For those believers, Vegueria so far is doing a better job of quelling fears than the complicated solutions debated by the U.S. Congress. “People have always come here with their economic troubles,” says Vegueria’s wife and business partner, Raquel, 54. “But now it’s even more so. A lot of people are out of work. He does what he can to listen to them, calm them, give them hope.” She says her husband is doing more pro-bono consulting these days. “Some can hardly afford to pay anything,” says Raquel. “They pay when they can.” The Veguerias are not alone. Other Santeria practitioners say the percentage of believers wanting to discuss economic travails has increased.

But can this slightly larger influx of money into psychic and occult services counteract a larger economic collapse? Esoteric answers are often a last resort for a scared general populace, and when that money also runs out I can’t imagine the psychics, practitioners of Santeria, or Pagans will be any better off. In fact, if this recession goes on for too long it may become very dangerous to be a Witch.

The Nigerian newspaper Punch looks at the growing number of mentally ill people in Osogbo and wonders if it is connected to creativity or native spiritual beliefs, a view that is strongly refuted by a local Ifa scholar.

Does the high level of creativity in Osogbo account for the unusually high number of mentally ill people? World acclaimed Ifa scholar, Ifayemi Elebuibon, does not believe so. Elebuibon said three factors were responsible for madness. Elebuibon, the Awise of Osogbo, who delivers papers in American and European universities on Ifa divinity, said mental illness could be contracted through heredity, evil attack and drug abuse. Tracing the traditional genealogy of madness, Elebuibon said, the Alara and Ajero royal families were the first to be beset with madness in Yoruba cultural worldview. According to him, “Mental illness is becoming rampant because people have departed from the ways of our forebears. We used to have intermediaries before marriages were consummated but now a man sees a woman on the road and off they go into marriage. Nobody cares to investigate the families of the spouse or the intending husband in order to know what kind of family their son or daughter is getting married to. Some families have hereditary mental illness.”

The piece goes on to look at more common factors in causing a increasingly visible mentally ill population: poverty,  hard drug-use, and a lack of social support systems. I’m glad to see this paper refuting the more romantic ideas of mentall illness. There is nothing more tragic than a society that treats depression, “heroic melancholy” and madness as “creative” or “holy” conditions.

For those of you who enjoyed my mention of the “Goddess on Earth” show yesterday, you might also want to check out another woman-centric New York gallery showing in March entitled “Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists”.

Dabora Gallery and Phantasmaphile’s Pam Grossman are proud to usher in the spring season with the group show “Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists,” on view from March 14th through April 12th, 2009. It features fourteen of the most vital and visionary women artists working in the US today. In literal terms, a fata morgana is a mirage or illusion, a waking reverie, a shimmering of the mind. Named for the enchantress Morgan le Fay, these tricks of perception conjure up a sense of glimpsing into another world, whether it be the expanses of an ethereal terrain, or the twilit depths of the psyche. The artists of “Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists” deftly utilize the semiotics of mysticism, fantasy, and the subconscious in their work, thereby guiding the viewer through heretofore uncharted realms – alternately shadowy or luminous, but always inventive.

You can check out a couple images from the show, here. You might also be interested in some of the artist’s web sites: Carrie Ann Baade, Lori Field, Katy Horan, Tina Imel, and Susan Jamison. It almost makes me want to be in New York. Almost.

In a final note, today is the feast of St. Valentine aka St. Valentine’s Day. Normally I would list the many and sundry media articles that detail the pre-Christian origins of this seemingly Sainted day, but I’ll concentrate on Lupercalia tomorrow (the actual day of its observance). In reality, St. Valentine’s Day most likely isn’t the holiday created to replace Lupercalia. When Lupercalia observances were suppressed by Pope Gelasius I in 494, the pre-existing Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (which in the Julian calendar fell on the same day as Lupercalia) was promoted in Rome as the purification of the Virgin Mary (later called Candlemas). Since the month of February and Lupercalia were seen as times of purification by the Romans, the new emphasis on Mary’s purification makes perfect sense. The Feast of St. Valentine, established two years later by Gelasius doesn’t seem to have much to do with the replacement of Lupercalia. If you want to blame someone for equating love with St. Valentine’s Day, you’ll most likely have to blame Geoffrey Chaucer (who hath a blog). In any case may you all have a happy (and by this point thoroughly secularized) Valentine’s Day celebration with the romantic partner(s) of your choice.

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