I have a few items of interest in my daily scan of the news, starting with a profile of practicing Witch and Australian singer-musician Wendy Rule. Rule is coming to Florida to perform, and the Daytona Beach News-Journal explores her Wiccan identity, and how that influences her songwriting.

A Sydney native who calls Melbourne home, Rule says, “It’s not such an unusual thing for music to have a magical and spiritual purpose. All the ritual music of traditional cultures — Aboriginal Australian and Native American shamans, folk music from across the globe, Gregorian chants and gospel music — share this same goal: to alter our consciousness and bring us in contact with the divine.” But, she adds, “I’m no more a Wiccan songwriter than I am a Scorpio songwriter, or an Australian one, or a female one. I’m just living and writing and singing and exploring my heart and soul — and I happen to be an Australian Scorpio Witch.”

While it’s nice that the paper decided to give some ink to Wendy Rule’s upcoming shows in America, you’d think they would bother to do more than simply cut-and-paste from her web site while implying they interviewed her. Maybe a long-distance phone call was too expensive for their operating budget? After all, these are hard times for newspapers.

If you want to brag once and for all that you’re as smart as (or possibly smarter than) Oberon “Grey School of Wizardry” Zell and Don “Witch School” Lewis you’ll get your chance at the upcoming St. Louis Pagan Picnic. According to a press release, they will be holding a trivia contest about “all things magical” open to all comers.

“Oberon Zell of Grey School and Don Lewis of Witch School have agreed to a trivia contest about all things magical to test their students and all comers. They plan to meet on June 13th & 14th at the St. Louis Pagan Picnic, held at Tower Grove Park. The St. Louis Pagan Picnic is the largest Pagan gathering in the Midwest, and brings together thousands for a weekend of friendship, fellowship, entertainment, teaching and merchants. The Wizards and Witches Trivia contest will be just one of the many parts to this wonderful event, but for the students of Grey School and Witch School, it is a highly anticipated one.”

The winners will receive unspecified “prizes”, one hopes that it isn’t a gift certificate to their respective schools. After all, would the winner of such a contest really need such a thing?

In a final note, workmen in Florence, Italy, while digging a hole for a new water cistern in the courthouse, stumbled across a temple to Isis.

“Workmen inside Florence’s courthouse have stumbled across a spiral column and hundreds of multicoloured fragments that experts believe may have belonged to a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.  According to Roman news agency ANSA, the remains, dating back to the second century AD, were discovered as the men dug a five by three meter hole, barely four meters deep, for a new water cistern for the courthouse’s anti-incendiary system … the remains were “comparable” to others found over the last three centuries in the immediate area that have also been attributed to the temple of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of motherhood and fertility who was later adopted by the Greeks and Romans.  The location of the temple is unknown, but it is believed to have been built just outside the Roman part of the city, near the current courthouse building…”

Florence’s archeology superintendency is currently overseeing the discovery, no announcements have been made as to what will ultimately be done with the find. Interesting that a courthouse was unwittingly built over the temple of a goddess that the Book of the Dead calls “She who seeks justice for the poor people”.

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

The Chicago Sun-Times wins the prize for being the first mainstream paper to explore the “mini-rise of the Wiccans” indicated in the recently-released American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) data. Too bad it’s so sloppy and lazy in its execution. First there’s the rookie mistake of referring to Wicca as “Wiccanism” (I mean really, in 2009?), then religion-beat reporter Mike Thomas starts off  with the hoary and groan-inducing “real Witches aren’t fantasy witches” bit that we all love so much.

“They don’t toil over bubbling caldrons or cook lost kids. They have no use for flying monkeys. And their spice racks are more apt to contain ginger or paprika than eye of newt.”

Then there is the matter of interview subjects.

“…there’s even a Witch School. An outgrowth of the nationally popular and long-active Web site witchschool.com, the Downstate Rossville-based organization currently offers three monthly courses and returned to town earlier this month after a five-year absence. Local classrooms include the Occult Bookstore in Wicker Park and the Life Force Arts Center in Lake View. [Rev. Don] Lewis said there’s talk of expanding to St. Louis and “a number of different regions.” [like Salem?] On a recent Friday night, Witch School CEO Ed Hubbard visited the Occult Bookstore to talk on the topic of “Magick for the Masses.” Few people attended, save for a handful of employees and one drop-in, but the show went on.”

Now I’m not bagging on the Witch School folks here, they are a (relatively) high-profile organization located in Illinois, so it’s only natural a journalist would contact them. I’m just troubled that the reporter went to exactly one source for this piece. That might fly when your doing a write-up of a metaphysical store in rural Michigan, but not in Chicago where there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of potential interview subjects. Nor does Thomas interview someone with the ARIS study to get a better sense of the growth of new religious movements, or attempt to contact any academics who study Pagan religions for insight into modern Paganism’s growth.

Using the ARIS data to merely write yet another tired “meet the Witches” piece, complete with the usual patina of superciliousness, seems an utter wase of journalistic space. Franky, if the Sun-Times doesn’t feel that Wicca’s continued growth is worth more than calling one organization and a drop-in at the local occult shop (for a talk lead by the same group) then they should just not bother. There are several interesting stories to be told spinning out of this ARIS data, and I’d rather wait for them to emerge slowly than bide my time with inconsequential filler like this. Honestly, I’d rather read yet another piece on how well psychics are doing during the recession than this mad-libs-style approach to religion reporting.

Thanks to Juliaki for tipping me off to the fact that you can now watch the entirety of the recent indie documentary “Hoopeston” online for free. The film, directed by Thomas Bender, looks at the struggling town of Hoopeston, Illinois, and the conflicts that emerged when Witch School (and the Correllian Tradition that runs it) moved in.

For all previous coverage of this documentary, click here. You may also be interested in perusing the last couple year’s worth of The Wild Hunt’s Witch School coverage. Enjoy the documentary! Feel free to post reviews in the comments.

The upcoming 15th (and final) annual New York Underground Film Festival will be hosting the international premiere of the documentary “Hoopeston”. The film looks at a formerly prosperous Illinois town as it deals with a declining economy, drugs, and the controversy caused by Witch School (and the Correllian Tradition that runs it) moving in.

While the NYUFF description is somewhat mocking, the filmmakers seem quite sincere in wanting to impartially tell the story of the conflicts that emerged between Witch School and the heavily Christian town.

“The directors of the school faced stiff opposition from religious conservatives (Hoopeston has over a dozen churches – its other nickname is “The Holy City”). But the Witch School is now a fixture in Hoopeston, one that forces the town to ask whether its future lies in traditional industry or internet wand sales. Hoopeston tells the story of the former Sweet Corn Capital through the lives of its residents. A laborer struggles to find work, a young entrepreneur buys the only motel in town, the police chief battles a drug epidemic, and the Correllian Chancellor lays plans for a vast Crystal Web.”

The Hoopeston story doesn’t have a happy ending for Witch School. Due to a number of factors, including the ongoing lack of acceptance by locals, the school (and the Correllians) moved to the even smaller town of Rossville, Illinois to make a new start of building a “Salem of the Midwest” (a plan that seems increasingly unlikely, as Rossville seems even less enthusiastic than Hoopeston at Witch School’s presence). “Hoopeston” should be an interesting exploration of what happens when religious cultures clash outside the (mostly) tolerant (and secular) urban areas most Pagans flock to.

The New York Underground Film Festival runs from April 2nd through the 8th at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City’s East Village. “Hoopeston” is scheduled to screen on April 3 at 8:45 PM, with a repeat showing on April 8 at 9:30 PM. No word yet on other festival appearances or a DVD release.

It seems that the hardships faced by Don Lewis and Witch School by moving operations to the tiny troubled town of Rossville, Illinois has been something of a blessing in disguise. Tales of the decidedly unfriendly reactions by the predominately Christian town have graduated from regional papers, to the Chicago Tribune (which in turn prompted a mention at Get Religion), and now USA Today is reporting the story.

“Witch School opened in July on Chicago Street, the main drag here, between the Harris Insurance Agency and Wally’s Pub & Eatery. Since then, it has been the chief topic of conversation, rumors and speculation around town. The witches couldn’t be happier. ‘It’s been great for business,’ CEO Donald Lewis says. ‘I do understand that some people, not understanding what we are, might be afraid, but they shouldn’t be. – There are no headless cats, there are no missing children.’”

“Great for business” indeed, you simply can’t buy that much sympathetic press. Not only has this flood of publicity helped dampen opposition, it has also provided the school with thousands of dollars of free publicity. Which I’m sure helps when enduring some hostile prayer-circles and billboards targeting your faith. It raises the question of if the Rev. Don Lewis is far cannier than we have given him credit for, or if Witch School just happened to move to the wrong town at the right time.

Now we just have to wonder if all this press is good for modern Paganism as a whole, or simply good for Witch School’s profit margin. I’m sure many Witches and Wiccans have decidedly mixed emotions about Lewis and Witch School becoming a major public face of Wicca. Time can only tell if Witch School stays in the spotlight once the controversy fades.

It seems that this story is finally coming to a close. Witch School, the infamous online school founded by Ed Hubbard, has been sold to a coalition of buyers from the Correllian Nativist Tradition with Don Lewis at the head. This follows much speculation following the initial announcement that Witch School would be auctioned off on eBay.

“No one takes Witches and Pagans as a serious market force. By using eBay as a platform for selling, at least we can get fair exposure. It is not like we can list this in an ordinary newspaper and be taken seriously. Of course, everyone will probably take this as a joke. But Witch School is a serious business and opportunity for the right buyer”

Since then students tried to form a coalition to buy their own school, outside Pagans tried to purchase the school, and the auction was pulled from eBay due to claims that someone was hacking Witch School’s account. In the midst of all this, Ed Hubbard started making the news for criticizing Hoopeston, Illinois’ for its lack of acceptance.

“Hubbard sold his interest in the Witch School recently to add to his financial base for Illiana Web. He announced this fact at the Hoopeston City Council meeting on Monday, when he also told the council the Witch School would be gone May 1. Hubbard asked a simple question at the meeting of the mayor and each individual alderperson: “Do you want me to stay? Illiana Web is fully ready and Hoopeston can become a regional hub. Do you want a Regional WIFI hub here?” No one answered the question. Hubbard turned and left the meeting. Mayor Bill DeWitt said it was Hubbard’s prerogative to stay, but added after Hubbard left the meeting that, ‘If I was engaged in any business and had to take a public-opinion poll, by hell, I would move.’”

Now that the sale finished, one wonders if it being sold to a Correllian-affiliated group was the planned outcome all along? One of the few serious non-Correllian coalitions to attempt purchasing the school seemed to not get very far in their attempts to discuss a bid.

“We wished to meet with Witch School partners to discuss the matter, but that didn’t happen. We made an offer to the majority partner, but not on E-bay. We also had a lot of questions about finances, philosophy of the school, assets, etc.”

Ed Hubbard is planning to make a formal announcement regarding the sale soon (feel free to post a link to it in the comments once it surfaces). No doubt he will discuss how the final sale came about, and reveal the new status of the school under the leadership of Don Lewis. One can only hope the buyers, sellers, and Witch School students will be happy with this new/old arrangement. Some of the ethical questions raised by this entire process will most likely go unanswered, but it seems the matter of the sale is finished.

On Monday Ed Hubbard publicly announced that he is selling off Witch School (here is the official eBay auction for the site), the infamous online school for aspiring Witches.

“Imagine, if you could buy Harry Potter’s Hogwarts? Well, the world’s first and largest public school of Wiccan and Witches has become available for sale. Starting Tuesday, April 10th, WitchSchool.com will be auctioned off to the highest bidder during an eBay Auction. If you ever wanted to have your very own cyber school of magick and witchcraft, this is the auction for you. So you can own and run your very own Academy for Magick and Witchcraft. If you would love to become the next Dumbledore, this is your chance to do so.”

This announcement has come after a strange series of shake-ups and developments. First a schism between two factions of the Witchcraft tradition that the school was associated with, then the installation of a new president (from one of the factions), and then the news that a reality program was being developed around the school. But now it seems everything must go, including their “Minispells” business, the proprietary software that runs the school, and even their MySpace page.

“The Comprehensive Site for online Wiccan and Pagan Education. With over 85 courses, plus tons of features that have been developed over the last five years. With over 145,000 currently actively registered students, and hundreds of thousands have passed through. It offers a lot of interaction including testing, transcripts, etc.”

In a letter to me* (full text here, with permission for his comments to be made on the record), Witch School founder and owner Ed Hubbard explained that the school is a completely separate legal entity from the Correllian Witchcraft Tradition and that Hubbard resigned from any formal position within both of the feuding Correllian factions (though the Correllian web site still claims he is affiliated).

“I offered to give the school to the tradition and the church and Davron refused. At that time, I informed Don and Davron that I would give WS one more year, and that I would turn it into NFP … I resigned from Correllian Nativist Church International, Inc. and The Correllian Mother Temple which were two separate organizations.”

There is no word on how this will affect their bricks-and-mortar campus in Hoopeston, Illinois. Will the property go to the Correllian Mother Temple and Don Lewis (who is acting president of Witch School), or will it be sold off? It seems strange that the Witch School site is conducting a fund raiser in which it urges all its online students to donate money to fix up their building in Hoopeston.

“We are asking our students, friends, and supporters to ‘Adopt’ a brick, and have your name (or craft name) put on it. We are creating a wall that includes everyone who helps us in this fundraiser … His exact words ‘If each basic student were to give a dollar the building would be able to be fixed up pretty quickly.’ And he came up with this fundraiser. We hope that Michael is correct and the blessing of the three fold law is given full rein in this project.”

As for the online school, Hubbard seems to hope it will be scooped up by a major Pagan-oriented business like Llewellyn Worldwide or New Page publishing, but seems just as open to the idea of it being bought out by a non-Pagan corporation like Google or Disney. In an addendum to the auction, Hubbard explains that the new owner of the school will have to honor the development deal with the SciFi Channel, and that the new owner will have the power to grant religious initiations within Correllian Wicca, and will control the Copyright to Don Lewis’ (head of the Correllian Mother Temple) writing.

“The Main Thing it holds is the License to Don Lewis Correllian Wicca, and the right to use it in many different ways. It has a perpetual right to provide FIRST, SECOND and THIRD DEGREES. It has many other rights to sell product. Witch School also negotiates and handles Don Lewis Copyright licenses exclusively since the Year 2000. Currently, a major publisher has the option to publish Don Lewis books, and will be likely exercise this right.”

Of course given the rules of eBay, it is entirely possible that a stealth organization hostile to Witch School (like an evangelical church) could buy it out, or that the winner of the auction will be a non-Pagan who will start selling off initiations. Which makes the eBay selling method somewhat surprising (top bid as of this writing is $1,625.01). But aside from the pitfalls of a public auction, there are all sorts of troubling ethical implications, like what will happen to personal data once its sold, the selling of the power to “initiate” someone as a Witch, and the strange legal intermixing of the school with the Witchcraft tradition it has been affiliated with. It remains to be seen what the final fall-out of this sale will be.

A big thanks to Lupa for tipping me off to this story!

* The letter in question mostly concerns Ed Hubbard’s take on the split between the two Correllian factions, so it might be useful for those wanting more information on the split (from one point of view).