I suppose that it’s inevitable that with all the coverage of Druids, Stonehenge, and the Summer Solstice, some journalist, somewhere, would have to make a Spinal Tap “Stonehenge” reference. However, I wasn’t expecting it from the newest member of the Get Religion team’s first post.

“The AP reporter goes on to discuss the mystery surrounding Stonehenge. Is it an ancient burial ground or the temple of some sun-worshipping society? And how in the world did its creators ever relocate from up to 150 miles away those several-ton stones that dwarf the stage props in “This is Spinal Tap!” … All I know about Druids comes from Spaceballs, but I’m pretty sure the troubles of the Druish Princess Vespa has little to do with what went on at Stonehenge Sunday.”

I normally wouldn’t even mention such tired (attempted) funny-making, but it just didn’t seem to add up to what Brad Greenberg (a Christian with a culturally Jewish background) says he believes about what being on the “Godbeat” means.

“Once considered a backwater of journalism, the Godbeat feels to me quite chosen, home to immensely important and interesting news. Religion, after all, is the rubric through which each person uniquely sees the world. Science, education, politics, entertainment — it regularly serves as an undercurrent in these fields. (That was, in fact, part of my pitch at The Sun three years ago when they were looking for a reporter for the newly created position and I was eager to get out of Rialto.) The religion angle also is occasionally relevant when trying to understand peoples’ beliefs in God, their perspectives on the life hereafter and that which gives every day meaning. Think of the God beat as the Jerusalem of journalism. Seriously.”

If religion reporting is so important, you’d think a little reading about modern Druidry before posting wouldn’t be completely amiss. When you lead off with a picture from Spinal Tap, with references to that film and to Spaceballs, it gives me the impression that modern Pagan religions aren’t even worth the minimal time and effort to quickly visit Wikipedia. It leaves me with the notion that any future reporting on modern Paganism from that journalist will be unserious and under-researched. The irony of a site that critiques religion reporting committing the journalistic equivalant to an unforced error is somewhat heady. Then again, maybe he’ll quote Life of Brian when he next reports on Christianity for the sake of consistency.

The House of Danu in California, an alliance of OBOD (the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids) groves and seed groups is hosting a historic Gorsedd for the Festival of Lughnasadh featuring some noted figures in modern Pagan Druidry.

“This is an unprecedented gathering of numerous Druid organizations in the West, and anyone interested in exploring the California Druid experience is invited to attend. This is a rare opportunity to acquire knowledge from the most celebrated scholars of Druidry.  The Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD), Philip Carr-Gomm is traveling from Sussex to help ground participants in Druid culture.  The Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), John Michael Greer, is coming down from Oregon to share his extraordinary knowledge of Druid history and magic. Archdruid Emeritus and founder of Ar nDraiocht Fein (ADF), Isaac Bonewits, is coming from New York to do assist in our discussion of Druid rites and ritual.  The Gorsedd will be a festival of learning, drumming, storytelling, games, initiations; Bardic evenings around the campfire, a magnificent Eisteddfod of our best performing artists, and a grand procession for the sacred ritual of Lughnasadh that you can help create.”

One has to wonder, with such a esteemed assmblege present (and no doubt several other prominent Druids will be attending in addition to the three “headliners”) if we will hear any pronouncements or plans for the future of Druidry in America. Movement on getting the Awen approved for military headstones and markers? Perhaps some statement on American environmental policy under the Obama administration? Maybe plans for greater cooperation and resource sharing between the different Druid groups in America? The speculation, and possibilities, are endless. Whatever happens, this is a rare confluence of influential individuals, and the results should be noteworthy to say the least. The Gorsedd will run July 31 to August 3, in the coastal redwoods above Watsonville, between Santa Cruz and Monterey, at the Buddhist retreat center Pema Osel Ling, in California. You can register now online.

Historian Ronald Hutton’s “Blood and Mistletoe: The History of Druids in Britain”, the more academic-minded companion to his 2008 book “The Druids” (now out in paperback), is now out in the UK (and will soon be out in the US) and reviews are starting to trickle in. So far they have been extremely positive.

“This book is a tour de force: surely the definitive work on our perception of the Druids. The only thing missing from this exhaustive account is an overview, however brief, of today’s colourful Druid groups – an odd omission by the acknowledged historian of neo-Paganism. For that, you need his earlier book.” – David V Barrett, The Independent

“This is an ably researched and well-written book. It charts the history of an obsession, representing the strange creation of a wholly fabulous people who by dint of repetition become lodged in popular consciousness. They then become part of history. They become real. Hutton explains this alchemical process very well, in a study notable for its humour as well as its scholarship.” – Peter Ackroyd, The Times

“His real concern is with the constantly developing role the Druids have played in Britain’s various cultures since the 17th century, and their place in changing notions of nationality in these islands. From the first of the “antiquaries” through the foundation of the thoroughly modern Ancient Order to the Stonehenge solstice-celebrations of recent times. The result is an engrossing, endlessly thought-provoking read.” – Michael Kerrigan, The Scotsman

You can read an excerpt of the new book, here. It seems a shame that, as David Barrett reports in his review, there is little information on modern Druid groups in this book. Perhaps it was an issue of space? If so, maybe we’ll be graced with a third tome on Druids from Hutton, this one giving an extensive focus to modern Druidry. Still, despite a lack of focus on modern Druid groups, I can only imagine that anyone interested in the history and evolution of perceptions concerning Druids in Britain will find much to enrich themselves with in “Blood and Mistletoe”. I can’t wait to pick up my own copy.

The Telegraph, Guardian, BBC, Salisbury Journal, and Daily Mail all report that Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon (no, not that Arthur Pendragon) has been given notice by authorities to vacate his position in front of Stonehenge by May 3rd or face prosecution for trespassing. Pendragon (the Druid formerly know as John Rothwell) has been living in a camper at the edge of the site for the last 10 months protesting issues of access, lack of upkeep, and long-promised improvements.

“[King Arthur Pendragon] believes visitors should be allowed to walk close to the stones and touch them rather than being confined to a visitor centre and a pathway well away from the monument. Pendragon also believes the fence designed to keep visitors out has a damaging impact on the stone circle itself, holding it “in a stranglehold like a snared animal”. Wiltshire county council launched legal proceedings to force Pendragon to move away. Salisbury crown court granted a possession order, in effect giving him until Sunday to pack up and leave. But outside court, bearded Pendragon, who was flanked by supporters in white robes, said he would not be budging.”

Pendragon has already vowed to fight the issue in court and to stay in his camp despite threat of arrest. The Druid leader also claims to have the full support of the Council of British Druid Orders (though it is unknown how much support among modern Druidry that really entails). There are certainly British Pagans who do not support the idea of allowing unfettered access to Stonehenge, especially considering the damges that were inflicted on the site leading up to imposed restrictions in the 1970s. Meanwhile, while Pendragon kept his vigil, British beuracracy continued to slowly trawl forward in finding a solution to Stonehenge’s issues. Specifically the now-published and approved proposal from the Future of Stonehenge Public Consultation.

“Although the Government decided that the A303 road improvements were unaffordable, it has made a commitment in December 2007 to review the Management Plan as the overarching strategic document for the Site, and to complete environmental improvements at Stonehenge, including new visitor facilities, in time for the 2012 Olympics. This work includes examination of the case for closing the A303/ A344 junction to improve the setting of Stonehenge. A new Stonehenge Project Board, chaired by the Ministers for Culture and for Transport, has been set up to oversee this work.”

While Pendragon’s stance may be noble and heroic, it is far more likely that the impending 2012 Olympics will finally spur the government to make the needed improvements in order to avoid international embarrasment over the state of a World Heritage Site. Still, you simply can’t buy the kind of publicity that gets you listed in all the major British newspapers, so I suppose this is something of a PR coup for Pendragon and his followers. Whether anything constructive will come of this limelight remains to be seen, but having raised the stakes it’s jail or go home now.

The National Secular Society has released a response to the The National Trust and English Heritage holding a public consultation on the proposed reburial of a neolithic skeleton found at Avebury that has been dubbed “Charlie”. An issue raised by The Council of British Druid Orders (and a CoBDO splinter group) on the grounds that these remains represent their spiritual and genetic ancestors, and that it is ‘disrespectful’ to treat them differently from exhumed Christian remains. Unsurprisingly, the NSS takes a dim view of these demands, and the deference shown to them by The National Trust.

The NSS believes that the National Trust and English Heritage have abdicated their clear responsibility to the nation to turn down the requests from the Council of British Druid Orders (CoBDO), an unelected and unaccountable group, for the reburial of ancient human remains at the Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury. It is important that the demands of one small group are not allowed to overwhelm those of the general public and interested groups, including those of scientists seeking to understand and to spread understanding of the lives of our ancestors in prehistory. Rather than take issue with the theology of the various “druid” groups represented by the CoBDO, the NSS wishes to stress the danger of creating a precedent in this case, whilst also refuting any claims that one specific religious group has over important scientific material which is the property of everyone.

The NSS goes on to call the demands, and the process of CoBDO setting itself up as “indigenous” spokespersons “an act of political expediency” rather than stemming from any real grievence. This particular criticism is echoed by cultural sociologist Dr Tiffany Jenkins in a recent article for Spiked.

CoBDO is an organisation which represents some Pagan groups. The request fronted by Paul Davies claims a genetic relationship with the human remains that are aged between 4,000 and 5,700 years old. But the demands are less about old bones than about winning affirmation of the legitimacy of Paganism from cultural organisations. These are, fundamentally, claims for recognition.

In the end, if the demands by some modern British Druid groups are met, it will raise a host of issues about the future of archeology in the UK and who exactly gets to speak for remains that are thousands of years old. Even if there was proof of some sort of spiritual link between these bones and modern Pagan practice, is CoBDO (or ‘CoBDO West’ for that matter) the organization that British Pagans want representing their interests and views? While secularists and scholars can be needlessly snarky about this issue, they do raise awareness of some important problems with these issues of identity and ownership. There has to be a better way of introducing a measured Pagan perspective to these debates than to allow scattered (and often self-appointed) individuals to claim the authority to speak with our collective voice.

Though the Summer Solstice revelers have moved on, that most famous of British neolithic monuments, Stonehenge, remains in the news. First off, somewhat controversial Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon (no, not that Arthur Pendragon) is camping out near Stonehenge, and vows to continue to do so until long-promised improvements to the site are made.

John Rothwell, aka Arthur Uther Pendragon.

“Demonstrating on behalf of the Council of British Druid Orders, King Arthur Pendragon, has been camping close to the World Heritage site since the Summer Solstice on June 21. Pendragon, 54, is hoping his protests will encourage the Government to remove the fences around the monument, build a tunnel over the A303 and grass over the A344. He said: “That’s what they promised to do but the Government said they couldn’t afford the tunnel. “It’s too commercialised. We want something exactly like Avebury. Those fences have been here since 1978.” … He said: ‘The visitor centre, set up 14 years ago, was supposed to be a temporary building. It’s awful. It is a national disgrace so what I am hoping to do by my protest is embarrass the Government into raising the issue.’”

However, this outrage over the condition of Stonehenge isn’t isolated to Druids and Pagans, and with the Olympics coming to London in 2012, there has been increased pressure to improve the state of England’s heritage sites. One manifestation of this willingness to do something about the state of Stonehenge is an upcoming three month public consultation on the future of the site. Organizers are no doubt hoping that this period of public input will quell criticisms of governmental negligence, and spur renewed action.

Stonehenge

“English Heritage is to launch a public consultation to find a new site for its long-planned Stonehenge visitor centre. The news comes more than six months after it scrapped Denton Corker Marshall’s design for a centre. That scheme, which had been granted planning permission in December, was shelved after the government decided not to fund a £500 million A303 tunnel. Heritage Lottery Funding had been conditional upon the tunnel going ahead. Denton Corker Marshall won a competition to design the facility in 2001 after EH had ditched a previous scheme by Edward Cullinan Architects. From July 15, members of the public will be able to offer feedback on EH’s review of the World Heritage Site Management Plan, and proposed environmental improvements to the roads around the monument, as well as possible locations for the new visitor facilities.”

Perhaps the fear of worldwide embarrassment over the care of Stonehenge will do more to motivate renewed care and attention to the monument than any protesting Druid could ever hope to achieve. In the meantime, King Arthur camps, and we wait to see if the government and English Heritage can finally find a long-term solution for the site’s care and maintenance.

Author, scholar, and modern Druid, Brendan Cathbad Myers has become an important emerging voice within the wider modern Pagan movement. Myers was a founding member of the Order of the White Oak, and the Convocation of Irish Druids (since dissolved and reformed as the Circle of Druids), in addition to receiving OBOD’s Mount Haemus Award for his research into Druidry. His most recent book, “The Other Side of Virtue: Where our virtues came from, what they really mean, and where they might be taking us”, is an in-depth examination and call for renewal of classical Virtue.

Brendan Cathbad Myers

I was lucky enough to be able to conduct an interview with Brendan Cathbad Myers about his book, the nature of Virtue, Pagan morality, and tips for living a Virtuous life.

This is a very ambitious book, what inspired you to explore the nature of virtue?

The idea for this book was born while I was living in a small town in Hessen, in Germany, in the summer of 2004. I used to enjoy walking in the forests and fields outside the village every day, and I loved visiting the cathedrals and castles and mediaeval towns of the region. I had also been living in Ireland for several years at that time. I had visited many of the actual locations where the events of Celtic mythology took place. And I was also reading Aristotle, and a few contemporary philosophers of Virtue theory, such as Rosalind Hursthouse, Alasdair MacIntyre, Phillipa Foot, Susan Wolf, and Iris Murdoch. But I think the idea to write a book about virtue came the evening after my friend and I were caught in a summer storm. In part because of that experience, the philosophical work I had been reading, and the landscapes and architecture I had been enjoying, came together in my mind. I felt as if I had discovered not only the key to understanding ancient people’s ethical world view, but that I had also discovered something primordial and universal about the human spirit. That day has become one of the most important spiritual occasions of my life.

At the very beginning of the book you define virture as: “the ancient idea that excellence in human affairs is the foundation of ethics, spirituality, self-knowledge, and especially the worthwhile life.” Do you think we (Pagans) have lost touch with this idea of virtue?

It’s not well known, but Virtue was originally a pagan idea. It was not only an ethical idea, but also a spiritual idea. It had to do with the way people make choices, but also with the way people ‘held’ themselves and possessed themselves. It configured how they understood their relationship to other people, the world, and the gods. To most people today it has to do with Christian qualities like humility and chastity. But its original side, which has now become its ‘other side’, has to do with the means by which a person empowers and edifies herself, and becomes a complete human being. Pagans have virtue-concepts in some of our most important and most widely shared statements of identity. The Charge of the Goddess mentions eight of them. But when most pagans think of ethics, they usually think of the the Wiccan Rede — a highly utilitarian idea which has nothing to do with virtue. I’d like to change that.

Although I say that Virtue was originally a pagan idea, yet it is an idea that belongs not just to pagans. It belongs to the world. For the questions it poses and the solutions it offers are there to be discovered by anyone. I think it’s not only Pagans who have lost touch with the original idea of Virtue. I think that the wider “Western” society in which we live has also lost touch with it. This is a shame, as mythological virtue is one of western society’s most important and powerful sources of identity and meaning. For most modern people, religious or not, express their values in utilitarian terms. Although most pagans think of themselves as belonging to a minority, professing values that others might find strange or even repugnant, nonetheless the Wiccan Rede is perfectly consistent with the widely-held modern values of individualism, utiliarianism, and rational self-interest. I suspect that Gardner and Valiente and the other early founders of Wicca promoted the Rede in order to show the rest of society that Witches are non-threatening! But I think the time of the Rede has passed. I will not prophesize what new time is coming: but I hope it will be the time of the Virtues, and I’ve written The Other Side of Virtue to help make that happen.

You have some critical things to say about relativism and the ethic of individualism in your book. Do you think our modern culture, and modern Paganism in particular, have taken these ideas to unhealthy extremes?

“Unhealthy extremism” is not what worries me about individualism and relativism. For these are both very interesting ideas in various ways. What worries me is that if all values and choices are “relative” to the “individual”, or to the individual’s culture or time and place, then it will follow that we will have little or no means to tell the difference between nobility and banality, or excellence and ordinariness. If “do what you will” is your ethic, then the choice to become a couch potato will be neither better no worse than the choice to become, say, a medical doctor, or a concert violinist. The logic of Individualism and Relativism cannot offer a substantial idea of why we live, what things are really worth having and doing, what a noble and excellent life really looks like.

I find myself strongly influenced by the philosoher Charles Taylor in this part of my thinking, especially in books of his like “The Malaise of Modernity” and “Sources of the Self”. As he explains it, Individualism offers no means to recognise values that transcend the individual, and no means to recognise the independant significance of friendship and love, history, the environment, politics or the wider society in which we all live. Yet Taylor also affirms that there is something important and profound in the individualist idea that each person is responsible for finding the meaning of her own life. My own philosophical project is similar. Here is how I describe it in the book:

“The good life involves each person finding within herself the purpose and worth of life. But this activity of self-exploration must not cut people off from sources of meaning beyond themselves… Similarly, we should assert that some values really are ‘out there’, beyond the self, and are not a matter of personal opinions and preferences. But we must find a way to assert this without falling back on old models of conformity and obedience.” (pg. 14)

I’m well aware that individualism is a value that most everyone presupposes as a normal and natural truth of human life. Many people feel personally threatened when it is called into question. And many people (not only pagans) think that the only alternative to individualism is some kind of oppressive authoritarian dogmatism. I believe that is a false dichotomy. My criticism of individualism is intended to show the way to higher, better, more spiritual ways of thinking and living.

Your exploration of virtue, is in some ways, a call for a new sense of morality in Western culture (and by extension, modern Paganism). What do you think a virtuous Pagan morality should look like? What would it include, what would it exclude?

I’d like to see a modern pagan morality in which the mythological virtues, both heroic and classical, are just as important as the Wiccan Rede – perhaps even more important than the Rede. For it is not enough to avoid what is harmful. It is also important to affirm what is joyful! We’re here on this earth-walk not just to experience life from many different angles. We’re here to lift ourselves up, to better ourselves, to find and to create a beautiful world. I think the Virtues can show us how to do that.

A new morality would have little to do with rules and laws. For the heart of the idea of virtue is the idea that ethics and spirituality is a matter of who you are, not just the rules you follow, even if you follow an unobjectionable rule like “harm none”. Indeed a fully virtuous person isn’t interested in rules at all. She’s interested in becoming a beautiful and complete human being, able to lead a fulfilling and worthwhile life.

A new morality should include lots of room for diversity and variety, and a robust idea of the good life at its centre, just as the pagan movement already does. Yet it should also offer robust models of admirable human beings and socially just communities, and it should offer values worth defending – as the modern pagan movement could do if there were fewer “witch wars” and internal conflicts.

To the best of my knowledge, there are only two other book in the pagan market that discuss ethical issues from a point of view other than the Wiccan Rede. One is Emma Restall Orr’s “Living with Honour”; the other is a single chapter in Philip Carr-Gomm’s “What do Druids Believe?” (both of which I have read, and thoroughly enjoyed, and am happy to recommend). I look forward to more books in the future which explore our ethics in greater depth, as these books (and mine) do.

You talk about “heroic” and “civilized” virtue, what differentiates these two ideas of virtue, and what aspects did they share?

The main differences between heroic and civilised virtues have to do with the kinds of cultures that they came from. Heroic virtues come mainly from chieftain-level societies like the Celts, the Norse, and the Homeric Greeks. They are concerned with the ways a person achieves fame and renown in such a society. Civilised virtues come from city-state societies like the Athenian democracy, or the Roman empire. They have to do with the use of reason to perceive the spiritual unity of the world, and to re-make one’s character in accord with that unity.

But in both cases virtue arises as a response to given problems, and enables people to handle their realities better, and transform their problems into sources of beauty. Those in Heroic societies saw fate, destiny, transience, and impermanence as the biggest problems. Those in Civilised societies thought the biggest problems in life were social and political in nature, such as warfare. But in both cases the way to handle the basic problems in life is not to draw up new laws to follow, but rather to become a certain kind of person.

When moving to the modern era, you praise J.R.R. Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings” and J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series (among others) for bringing forth a resurgence of virtue. In your opinion, what do these writers teach us about being virtuous?

I wrote a chapter on Tolkein and Rowling to show that the ancient idea of virtue makes re-appearances in the most surprising places. I even wrote a short chapter on the heroic virtues as they appear in Star Wars! But I decided not to include it, since I felt my point had already been made, and besides Tolkein and Rowling are better writers than George Lucas (as I’m sure even ardent Star Wars fans will agree).

I think Tolkein and Rowling teach that anyone, from any background, in any circumstance, can find it within herself to be heroic. Virtue does not belong only to those who are born to aristocratic or wealthy families, or destined for ‘greatness’, as might be implied if one took civilized and heroic virtue at face value. Tolkein shows how ordinary people, like the Hobbits, have it within them to be noble. Rowling shows how even children can be noble. I’m particularly impressed with Rowling’s use of the language of the virtues. The various moral teachings which she puts in the mouths of Harry’s mentors, like Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, would find a ready home in any pre-christian philosophical treatise.

It might be added that none of the heroes in these books are motivated by a desire to “harm none”, or reduce the harm that is caused in the world. As a thought experiment: think of any person, living or dead, or think of any literary character, who you admire. Next, ask yourself if he or she made a personal goal of minimizing harm. The answer will almost always be “no”. What makes people praiseworthy and memorable are their virtues: the qualities of character which make them stand out, and make them capable of great things — even if such things are, in the words of Mr. Ollivander, “terrible things, but great”!

How does the ancient Greek aphorism “know thyself” provide us with the key to developing excellence and virtue?

This aphorism is an interesting one. It’s phrased in the form of a moral imperative: it tells us what to do. Yet what it demands is not obedience to a dogmatic authority. It calls for a process of mature and honest soul-searching which, if done right, produces a heroic and civilised human being. “Knowing Yourself” is not the same as accepting yourself as you are, accepting your flaws, accepting your habits and desires. “Knowing Yourself” requires “the deepest committment, the most serious mind.” As I describe it in the book, to know yourself means to know the reaches and the limits of your powers and potentials. it is to know what you are capable of. Yet the only certain way to learn this is to put your powers and potentials to the test. On such occasions, we often find that those powers and potentials are greater, or lesser, than we originally believed them to be. This is not a process of accepting yourself ‘as is’. Rather, it is a process of changing, discovering, improving, and transforming yourself into a better person. For self-discovery is also three out of five parts self-creation.

Through the Delphic motto, “Know Yourself”, individualism makes an important appearance in my text. Yet that individualism is connected to sources of value from beyond the self. For it usually takes an event or experience from outside the self to initiate the quest for self knowledge.

My book addresses existential and universal themes such as these. It is written not only for pagans, but for everyone. In that sense, it can be thought of as a book with pagan ideas in it, not a pagan book. I recently noted that it was put on the “recommended reading” list of a humanist society in Italy. Yet I hope that it will be of interest to pagans. Modern Asatruars and Heathens, Hellenic Revivalists, Druids, and Pagan Celts have been working with lists of virtues for many years now. Indeed I think that the pagan community is well positioned to show the world what a heroic, and civilised, and mythological, yet completely modern ethical idea, looks like in practice — and why it can help us respond effectively to the largest problems of our time, such as global warming, religious fundamentalism, economic corruption, racism, sexism, poverty, apathy, and nihilism.

What is “The Immensity”, and how does it connect to the idea of virtue?

While studying the myths and legends in which the ancient idea of Virtue appears, it quickly became clear to me that no one can revive that ancient notion of Virtue “as is”. The Celts, for instance, were headhunters. The civilised societies I studied, such as Rome, were imperialist societies that kept slaves. And some of the wisdom-texts I studied are profoundly mysogynist. I had to create a philosophical account that that sheds light on the logical foundation of virtue, and explains its universal power, without endorsing old pagan customs that have no place in today’s world. The Immensity is that philosophical account.

In its essence, the Immensity is an event or experience which every thinking and feeling human being must inevitably face, every once in a while, in the course of her life. In the book I describe three of them: the Earth, and other people, and death. No one can live without meeting these three things once in a while. And there might be more Immensities than just these three. I explain how the Immensity has many of the features regularly attributed to God, such as timelessness and authority. Yet its power is not that of a paternal or heirarchical kind of lawgiver. Its power is more like that of a friend who tugs your sleeve and says, “Here, look at this rainbow, look at this flower, look at this curiously shaped stone”–and then doesn’t stop tugging until you look. Then when you finally look, you feel as if an itch you didn’t know was scratched, but now that you think about it, well yes, it did itch, didn’t it?

In the last three or four years, the study of the Immensity has become my life’s work. I’m presently preparing another book which will explore this idea on the social, political, and environmental planes.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone who wants to start living a virtuous life?

Well as you might expect, I would recommend that such a person should read my book. But more seriously: ask yourself what are the Immensities in your life, and examine how you have responded to them. In the final chapter I describe a thought experiment which is designed to help get the process started. I don’t want to give it away here, but I’ll say this much. To live a virtuous life, in the original, heroic and civilised sense of the word, teach yourself to recognise the Immensities when they appear, acknowledge them as you would acknowledge a messenger from the gods, and offer in response the choice which will help transform you into the person which you wish to be.

Previous Wild Hunt interviews: Rita Moran, Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone, Phyllis Curott, Tim Ward, Lupa, J.C. Hallman, Margot Adler.

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

A paper in Livingston County, Michigan reports on the closing of a Pagan/Metaphysical shop in downtown Howell. The paper cites a depressed local economy and competition from larger retail and outlet stores as the primary reasons for the shop’s failure, achieving what Christian protesters failed to do eight years ago.

“Wisdom of the Ages has withstood a religious protest against the store’s Wiccan tradition and set up shop in mostly Christian Livingston County, but has fallen victim to Michigan’s struggling economy … The year Wisdom of the Ages opened, two Howell-area churches protested outside the building, praying for the souls of Lindsay and store staff. The Daily Press & Argus and television stations in Detroit, Lansing and Jackson picked up the story. Business spiked as a result, Lindsay recalled. “They wanted us shut down. It was the best thing that could have happened to us,” she recalled.”

The owner, Mona Lindsay, will be opening a smaller shop (called “Moon Magick”) in nearby Hamburg Township, where no doubt rents are cheaper and the chances for success in a struggling economy a bit better.

Student Newspaper The Appalachian explores divination, magick, and Paganism, through the lens of a new class taught by anthropology professor Dr. Gregory G. Reck.

“As an outgrowth of Reck’s anthropological interests, this spring semester he instructs a ‘Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion’ course that strives to understand different theoretical approaches to religious behaviors and beliefs. ‘We use religion and magic as a kind of prism through which we can explore questions of the nature of the human experience,’ Reck said. It is through that prism that such individuals as psychics, tarot card readers, or Pagans regard their world.”

The article also talks to James Crew, an interdisciplinary studies major with a concentration in contemporary Pagan studies, and local tarot card readers Cheryl and Sage.

The American Muslim has posted a petition to appeal the execution in Saudi Arabia of Fawza Falih Mumammad Ali, a woman who has been accused of “witchcraft, recourse to jinn, and slaughter of animals”. Among the signatories are Pagan leaders like Phyllis Curott, Ellen Evert Hopman, and Selena Fox.

“Surely it is the wisdom of God who is, as so many of the verses of the Qur’an teach, much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace, which must inspire mercy for Fawza Falih, and it is you who embodies that compassion in this realm where the least of humanity most needs your protection. In the name of God, please, halt the execution of Fawza Falih immediately and release her from the Quraiyat Prison.”

You can add your signature, here. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has also written to King Abdullah asking for clemency. I’m still wondering why Abdullah’s good pal George W. Bush hasn’t responded to this controversy.

Executive Pagan points out that two major Druid organizations now have regular podcasts. OBOD’s Druidcast, hosted by Damh the Bard, and Tribeways, the official podcast of the ADF.

“ADF’s very first podcast, Tribeways, was released into the wild on February 19, 2008! You can download the podcast directly from our host, or through iTunes … The February Feast features the following contributions: “Make Offerings, Dammit!” by Rev. Kirk Thomas … “Comparative Mythology – Why Bother?” by Rev. Jenni Hunt … “Trance Meditation” by Archdruid Emeritus Ian Corrigan”

The Tribeways podcast also comes with “liner notes”, featuring notes and transcripts from the show.

In a final note, last week was Pantheacon, one of the largest indoor Pagan-themed conventions in America, and reports, pictures, and videos have been trickling in from the event. Cherry Hill Seminary has photos and commentary, Deborah Oak discusses embracing paradox at Pantheacon, Chas Clifton shares the news of who won the Llewellyn and BBI Media co-sponsored Pagan fiction contest, T. Thorn Coyle discusses the magic of possibility, and M. Macha NightMare leads us to some videos of the WOW Besom Brigade.

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

The Independent does a profile of author and academic Ronald Hutton on the release of his latest book “Druids: A History”. The article points out that this book isn’t so much about “real” Druids (ie the historical priestly caste of the pre-Christian Celts), as it is about the modern invention of Druids (and Druidry) from Iolo Morganwg in the 18th century to the present day.

“Hutton gives us chapters on “The Patriotic Druids”, “The Wise Druids”, “The Green Druids”, “The Demonic Druids”, “The Fraternal Druids”, “The Rebel Druids” and, perhaps most important to his popular readers, “The Future Druids”. Like the Knights Templar, at least in the British Isles, the Druids have been a handy peg on which to hang a backpack of imaginative, insightful, and sometimes half-baked ideas, dealing with national identity, religious revelation, ancient societies, nature and ourselves. When I mentioned that it seemed like a history of what people have thought about the Druids, Hutton eagerly agreed. ‘My colleagues would kill me for saying this, but historians are increasingly conscious of the fact that we can’t write history. What we can write about is the way in which people see history and think history happens.’ And turning my remark back at me he continued, ‘So, is this a book about Druids with no Druids in it, or are the real Druids these amazing characters like William Price, William Stukeley, Iolo Morganwg and the rest?’”

The interviewer also touches on the fact that Hutton has courted controversy with his books on modern Paganism. From some modern Pagans who have disagreed with his findings, and from academic colleagues who feel he is a bit too chummy with the Pagans.

“Predictably, Hutton finds himself defending his position on two fronts. Neo-pagans, clinging to the notion that their beliefs are part of an ancient nature religion, and radical feminists upholding the idea of a primeval matriarchal society (which Hutton finds “rather delightful”), scorn Hutton’s refreshingly cheerful acceptance that there seems little evidence for either of these. And his less unbuttoned colleagues shake their heads at his optimism about Druidry and other “alternative spiritualities” as valid contemporary religions. He has a very pragmatic, creative attitude, recognising that factual error can still produce beneficial results. We may not be able to “get it right”, about the Druids and other people of the past, but ‘we can look upon the past and how it works for us, and call upon it in order to make the future’.”

But despite the criticisms Hutton has received from some Pagans, his obvious love and respect for modern Paganism is apparent.

“Paganism today, he says, is “a way of trying to get the best out of modernity, while discarding the bits that most of us hate”. And while he wouldn’t call himself “a spokesperson for paganism” … he acknowledges his debt to it. “I could never have managed to write the books that I have without the welcome and the support I’ve received from pagans and Druids.” Given that the West has been reinventing its identity since the Renaissance, that we should continue to do so today shouldn’t come as a surprise. “It’s part of our reclaiming ourselves as modern,” Hutton says. ‘Of getting a sense of who we are and what we’re doing here, where we’ve come from , and why we are who we are. It’s simply thrilling.’”

If “Druids” is anywhere near the quality of works like “Triumph of the Moon” or “Stations of the Sun”, then it will become essential reading for anyone interested in modern Druidry/ism (whether curious outsider or veteran practitioner). Works like this help add another piece to the puzzle of modern Paganism’s sometimes complex and confusing history.

Cherie Blair, the wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is making news for her new-found friendship with a “Druid priestess”.

“…they got on famously because – although the reasons may not seem immediately clear – they had ‘a lot in common’. And so began, a year ago almost to the day, Mrs Blair’s extraordinary friendship with Dwina Murphy-Gibb: erotic artist, one-time fetish – magazine model, part-time Druid priestess and bisexual.”

Dwina Murphy-Gibb is married to Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb, and their friendship is drawing criticism, not for Murphy-Gibb’s wild past but for her relationship with the woman-lead group Brahma Kumaris.

“Even by the standards of some of Mrs Blair’s previous friends – former glamour model Carole Caplin, for instance – Dwina’s past is colourful almost beyond belief. But there is something else – potentially dangerous – that yet again places a question mark against Mrs Blair’s judgment and the almost kamikaze, ill-advised way she embarks on certain friendships. It is Dwina’s close involvement with Brahma Kumaris, a women-led spiritual organisation that, while striving for world peace, has allegedly used ‘pernicious’ methods to control its followers.”

The Brahma Kumaris group has been accused of controlling followers and has gained controversy for advising adherents (including married partners) to live a life of celibacy. But while the connection to the religious group has some concerned, the real start of all this attention is due to a winter holiday at Robin Gibb’s home in Miami.

“The riddle over Tony Blair’s controversial winter vacation deepened yesterday as Downing Street tried to fight off accusations that the Prime Minister had accepted a free holiday at the palatial Miami home of the pop star Robin Gibb…Mr Blair’s predilection for staying at the homes of the rich and glamorous has turned his holidays into an annual set-piece controversy. But this holiday promises to be more colourful than most. The villa, built in 1948, has become famous as a venue for decadent parties. Mr Gibb has described his marriage as ‘totally open. We like to cruise and we like to watch.”

Amidst this controversy and gossip, Dwina Murphy-Gibb’s connections to Druidism (she is a patroness of OBOD) are just one more shocking adjective alongside bisexuality and wild parties. Can you be friends with someone with a “wild” lifestyle yet not live it? The press so far seems to hint at some secret hedonistic lifestyle Cherie Blair may be living. But I doubt the devout Catholic will be attending OBOD rituals or “swapping” with a Bee Gee at a wild party any time soon. It could simply be a friendship formed by a shared interest in charitable causes, but then that wouldn’t be news would it?