“This morning, the New Jersey Board of Education voted to approve their list of religious holidays permitting pupil absence from school for the 2010-2011 school year. Included for the first time on this list are the eight Pagan/Wiccan holidays, or sabbats.  This marks the first time any state has approved Pagan holidays to a state calendar, and will set a precedence for other districts and states across the country.”

The Rev. Elena Ottinger of Salem County, who started this campaign when her daughter’s school wouldn’t allow an excused absence for Yule, is now working to change the policy that gives individual school districts the discretion whether to allow the holidays to be excused. Needless to say this is a groundbreaking display of what grass-roots organizing, paired with social media (much of the organizing was done through places like Facebook), can do for Pagan rights in this country. I urge everyone to read the well-written summary of the events that brought us to this point at Kris Bradley’s Examiner site. Now to see how long before another group of Pagans works to get their children’s religious holidays put on the official school calendar.

Pagan Leaders Backing Patrick McCollum: The Pagan civil rights coalition Our Freedom has released an open letter of support for Pagan chaplain Patrick M. McCollum’s ongoing fight to ensure equal treatment for minority faiths in the state of California, and criticizing the discriminatory amicus brief submitted by WallBuilders, Inc. in support of dismissing the case.

“…we as Pagan Americans say and affirm to the Northern District Court of the State of California, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Attorney General’s Office, and the Governor of the State of California, that Pagan inmates have similar requirements and needs comparable to those of the five faiths currently being served. Included in these needs are: access to paid Pagan chaplains to facilitate regularly scheduled religious services, provide spiritual guidance and counseling support; facilitate Pagan rites of passage and liturgical needs; and to serve as intermediaries between Pagan inmates and correctional administrators and staff to educate about Pagan religious needs or requirements of Pagans. In doing so, the state of California will continue to move forward into a system which is inclusive of religious belief.”

Signing on to the statement were representatives from ADF, Circle Sanctuary, CUUPS, EarthSpirit, Gaia’s Womb, Irminsul Aettir, Pagan Pride Project, Inc., and several other groups. I have uploaded the entire statement as a plain text document, so that you can read it in its entirety and forward it to other Pagan news outlets.

Medical Examiner Rules on Sweat Lodge Deaths: Autopsy results from the three deaths in the James A. Ray  “Sweat Lodge” case have been released, with the examiner ruling them all “accidental”.

“Autopsy reports from the Yavapai County medical examiner show that shortly after arriving at a hospital on October 8, Shore, 40, and Brown, 38, died of heat stroke brought on by the sauna-like conditions inside the tent. Neuman, 49, died October 17 from multiple-system organ failure as a result of prolonged exposure in the sweat lodge, according to the Coconino County medical examiner.”

It should be noted that the “accidental” death ruling doesn’t mean Ray is off the hook for the manslaughter charges he is currently facing. It just means that no other factors, aside from prolonged exposure to the sweat lodge’s conditions, contributed to their deaths. What Ray, currently out on bail, will have to prove is that he didn’t act negligently in conditions that led to their deaths.

God In 100 Words or Less: Last month the pan-religious news portal Patheos.com posted a selection of Protestant Christian “theobloggers” describing “who or what is God” in 100 words or less. Since then, they’ve decided to expand the question to religious bloggers from several other faiths. One of those answers came from me, with essential help from Erynn Rowan Laurie and P. Sufenas Virius Lupus.

Modern Paganisms are plural and within them the concept of “God” is also seen as plural, not singular. While many Pagan faiths acknowledge a source of some kind, they also believe that sacrifice, the act of making something sacred, or worship, the act of giving worth to something, are practices that evolve between the many deities and powers who have grown, struggled, and changed along with humanity. A second-century philosophical text has Epictetus saying the gods are “A constellation of eyes, the spirits of understanding; if you fear, it is fearful; if you are temperate, it is sanctified.”

Patheos.com invites people to add their own 100-word conceptions of “God” in the comments section. While I’m on the subject of Patheos, they are currently looking for bloggers to write for their Pagan portal. If such a gig sounds interesting to you, please contact their Director of Content, David Charles.

All About that Witch-Hunting Movie: If you were curious to know more about that “Last Witch Hunter” movie that just got acquired by Summit Entertainment (the folks who brought you the “Twilight” saga), IESB has a full script overview.

“They have been walking among us since the beginning. They call themselves Haxen and are not the biggest fans of daylight. The witches abilities have brought a fear into the hearts of many Examples of this fear of witches can be found in historical events such as The Crusades and The Salem Witch Trials. This is why the Haxen have hid for many centuries and have broken up into what we know as covens. Each nationality has their own coven of witches, Hispanic “brujas” in the Bronx, and witches of African heritage in Harlem. The only one who has the ability to stop them is the immortal Nightshade.”

It sounds like a pretty crazy mix of full-blown fantasy-action film with random bits of witchcraft-related folklore thrown in for spice. Personally, I’d like to say that I’m not really worried about people becoming “last witch hunters” and going around killin’ or persecuting Pagans because of a stupid action film, I just think it’s in poor taste when there are still plenty of people in the world who are killing and persecuting (primarily) women and children for the crimes of “witchcraft”.

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

“Summit made a pre-emptive mid-six figures acquisition of The Last Witch Hunter, a Cory Goodman pitch that has franchise potential, and the attachment of Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov. The protagonist is one of the last remaining witch hunters, a breed that keeps the population of witches and warlocks in check. They are about to repopulate in a major way unless he can stop them.”

So let me get this straight, the historical figures who tortured, killed, and accused innocent men and women of being “witches” and “warlocks” are being revamped as broody anti-heroes trying to save humanity from real-live witches? What’s next? A film where heroic cops raid gay bars for the good of America? Films set in the old west where Native Americans are turned into villains again and again? Oh, wait. They already did that one.

That Darn Neopaganism: The newly launched conservative site “Alternative Right” comes out of the gate swinging against modern Paganism.

“The first and most important problem with Neopaganism is that, to put it simply, it is wrong. Whatever may be said about the dangers of egalitarian and universalist Christianity, that the Church was built as a repository of truth with the distinct purpose of spreading that truth and, through that truth, saving men’s souls, is beyond question. Neopaganism is built around an impulse that runs contrary to the truth… and this impulse is recognized by a vast majority of neopagans. Men that concern themselves with philosophy and ascetics in public find themselves slaughtering goats in the name of Thor in private when they know that the practice is utter nonsense. It is all well and good to desire a connection with your barbaric ancestors; it is quite another thing to bring your silly hobby into the realm of philosophy and politics. Which brings me to my second point: nearly every aspect of the western world worth saving is a product of Christianity, not Paganism. Even the distinctly non-Christian things are Christian in origin.”

First off, ten points are deducted from the essay for quoting G.K. Chesterton, the lazy man’s anti-pagan source material (seriously folks, Chesterton is not the alpha and omega of anti-pagan arguments). Another ten points for his ignorance of the pagan origins of things Christians like to take credit for, like democracy, charity, and philosophy. Yet another ten for faulting paganism for things it wasn’t around to do, like fighting Muslim advances into Europe, because the Christians had eliminated it! If this is the “new intellectual right-wing” is smells an awful lot like the old intellectual right-wing.

Get Religion’s Shameless Plug: Remember me mentioning Rod Dreher’s awful column defending his anti-Vodou attitudes? Well, religion journalism criticism site Get Religion just loved it! Singling it out for praise and discussion because, well, it praised Get Religion.

“We didn’t pay him to say that, or even plead for him to do so, but we’re glad that this concept was aired in a place where mainstream readers and journalists have a chance to read about it and, perhaps, even debate it.”

You can bet your boots I debated it. Dreher’s column was a biased self-serving ode to the reprehensible anti-Vodou tirades by himself and a handful of conservative-leaning columnists. The fact that he’s trying to repackage his outlandishly anti-Vodou attitude as a “respectful” journalistic “study” of the faith strains all sense of credulity for anyone who’s actually read his (and similar) work(s). So the plug really is “shameless”, but not in the way I think they mean. Oh, and if you feel the need to join the debate there, be sure to keep your criticism focused on the journalism, lest your comment be spiked.

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

“Set against a vivid backdrop of American rural landscapes, Alex Mar’s meditative documentary artfully weaves together the stories of three young Americans exploring alternative religion: a pagan priestess in California mining country, a Spiritualist in upstate New York, and a Native American father and sundancer in South Dakota, all yearning for fulfilling spirituality in disparate but often strikingly similar ways.”

The Pagan priestess in question is Morpheus Ravenna, who, along with her husband Shannon, operates the Stone City Pagan Sanctuary in California’s Diablo Range, just outside the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Stone City was founded by Morpheus and Shannon on their land in Santa Clara County, California, beginning in 2002. Our purpose is to provide gathering space and facilities for Pagan community events, and permanent sacred spaces dedicated to the Old Gods. Stone City does not serve one single tradition or subset of the community exclusively – our intention is to be available to multiple traditions as a place for gathering, worship and support. Our community of friends and supporters is wonderfully diverse, representing people with backgrounds and practices including witches from many traditions (Feri, Gardnerian, Reclaiming, California Eclectic, and more), Druids, Thelemites, practitioners of Celtic and Norse faiths, Kemetics, members of NROOGD and CAW, shamans and animists, Buddhists, and others. We are dedicated to fostering ties between traditions and strength within the Pagan community.”

I had the distinct pleasure of not only meeting Morpheus and Shannon at this year’s Pantheacon, but to also talk at some length with director Alex Mar concerning the project (during the Pandemonaeon concert of all places). I was left with the impression that Mar, while not a Pagan, seemed genuinely fascinated with our interlocking communities, and clearly respected the work being done by Ravenna and the Stone City Pagan Sanctuary. I came away from our interactions very encouraged that this will be a worthy documentary that respects the beliefs and aspirations of its subjects (a rare thing).

As this project gets closer to its premiere, I’m hoping to showcase a trailer for the documentary as soon as it’s made available. I’m also hoping to conduct an interview with Alex Mar about the documentary for this blog at some point in the near future. I think it’s very exciting that a documentary featuring the accomplishments of modern Pagans in such a positive way is going to be getting a lot of attention from film-lovers, industry professionals, and the press. You can be sure I’ll be keeping you up-to-date concerning this film.

Avatar’s pantheism vs. monotheistic morality: If there’s one dominant theme this year, it’s James Cameron’s “Avatar” vs. just about everybody else. Will the highest grossing movie of all time, the one that sends conservative Christians into fits, also take home the critical accolades of its peers? Most critics are split on whether Avatar, up for nine Oscars, will sweep the big awards, or if it will be shut out by critical darling “The Hurt Locker”. What’s fascinating when looking at the best picture, best director, and top acting awards, is that if Avatar is a showpiece for pantheism, then it’s up against a slate of films very much centered in Judeo-Christian morality (to different extents). From the evangelical dark-horse hit “The Blind Side”, to the vengeful Jews of “Inglourious Basterds” (and the suffering Jew in “A Serious Man”), to the redemption-song of “Precious”. We’ll have to wait and see if the pagan CGI blue people can win it, though Vanity Fair seems pretty certain of “Avatar” bringing home the best picture award.

“So, you’re left with Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker. One made mega-billions; the other isn’t even posting its box-office results for its Oscar re-release. One ends with its hero suffering shell-shocked ennui and masochistically heading once more into the breach; the other ends with a bulimic blue Ewok rave party and true love conquering all, even American capitalism. Because that’s what connects today’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with Louis B. Mayer’s, faith in a simple movie formula that never seems to wear: boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy turns into giant blue alien. All in 3-D!”

There’s a part of me that still has a hard time believing that box-office populism (and “rampant pantheism”) will win out at the Oscars, but then, the lightweight but popular “Shakespeare in Love“ did win best picture once, as did “Dances With Wolves”, which “Avatar” is compared to quite often.

Other films to watch for: It’s often the smaller categories where we find interesting films for a Pagan sensibility. For instance, in the Animated Feature Film category you have Neil Gaiman’s darkly inviting otherworld-traveling “Coraline” and the (for better or for worse) Voodoo-drenched Disney production “The Princess and the Frog”. There’s also the little-seen Celtic myth-drenched film “The Secret of Kells”.

You may also want to see if “Food, Inc”, which examines food production in America, wins an award.

Beyond that, pickings get even slimmer. Will the imagination vs. base desires weirdness of “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” take home a statue? Will they throw a bone to the latest Harry Potter flick? Will the Golden Dawn/Masonic occult conspiracies of “Sherlock Holmes” garner an art direction award? Will they give an award to Helen Mirren simply because she’s so awesome? We’ll find out tonight. See you at the red carpet!

“I would like to see us get more of the student body not necessarily involved but to know we’re there and to know that we’re normal people … Being in an interfaith school where most of the religions are a branch off of Christianity, you have to be able to say what you need to say and say it well as to not offend everybody, but also know what it is that you believe in and stand by what you believe in.”

Hudson joins a small but growing group of officially recognized Pagan chaplains serving at universities, including the Rev. Cynthia Jane Collins at the University of Southern Maine, Brian Walsh at the University of Toronto in Canada, and Catherine Starr, also at the University of Toronto. Naturally, not everyone is happy with this growing ethos of interfaith cooperation, both Free Republic and conservative Anglican site Virtue Online have gotten the vapors over this development. Despite these rumblings from the fringes, Hendricks Chapel Interim Dean Kelly Sprinkle sees this as a something that will put Syracuse on the forefront of religious pluralism.

“Having a Pagan chaplain clearly places Hendricks Chapel and Syracuse University as one of the leaders on the national scene among university and college chapels in recognizing and embodying the importance of religious pluralism on campus. It helps those students that may not be part of one of the larger traditions to realize that we care about them as well and that they are welcome here.”

As this news reverberates into the blogosphere I’m sure we’ll be seeing more commentary, both positive and negative, in the weeks to come.  The Wild Hunt will be sure to keep you posted as things develop. In the meantime, congratulations to Mary Hudson, may she serve well.

In Other News:

Have the Jedi Ruined the British Census for Pagans? The Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the UK is saying that the 2011 census may be the last of its kind, partially due to the quickly-shifting demographics of the nation, but also due to what they say are “prank” answers.

“Prank responses to questions that are perceived to be too intrusive have also knocked confidence in the current system. In 2001 — the first time a voluntary question was asked about faith — almost 400,000 people took inspiration from the Star Wars films to claim that their religion was “Jedi”. This was in addition to about 7,000 people who said that they were witches.”

Now I’m not going to get into a debate about whether the British Jedi are a “real” religion, or how many of the 400,000 were having a laugh, as opposed to being truly spiritually moved by the works of George Lucas. But it is troubling that Pagan Witchcraft, which has been around openly in the UK since the repeal of anti-Witchcraft laws in the 1950s, is being lumped into this “problem”. This development has inspired some unlikely defenders, like from Guardian columnist Tanya Gold.

“But still I feel an urge to defend the witches. Of all the silly religions – and I think that all religions are silly – I believe that witchcraft is the least dangerous and the most benign. It is also the least understood.”

Gold’s somewhat mocking and half-hearted defense of Witchcraft somewhat masks the larger problem here, which is that the 2011 census may be the last opportunity we get for a truly accurate count of Pagans in the UK. I’m sure we’ll soon hear from the Pagan Federation, and especially PEBBLE, who were trying to coordinate Pagan response to the 2011 census, on these developments soon. To replace a census with regular surveys could make data about religions far more unreliable, and mask the growth of minority religions in the UK.

Medea Not Gaia: The Christian Science Monitor reports on a new book by paleontologist Peter Ward that offers a counter-theory to James Lovelock’s popular  Gaia hypothesis. Ward’s book, “The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive?”, argues that instead of life sustaining habitable conditions on Earth, per Lovelock’s hypothesis, life might instead be its own worst enemy.

“Ward’s book isn’t really about human-caused global warming. It’s about the long-term future of life on the planet. Organic life has repeatedly caused the collapse of the biosphere, and on at least one occasion (snowball earth) has almost extinguished it entirely.”

But while this counter-theory may be somewhat depressing, the scenario isn’t without hope, and Ward explains that humanity may be able to turn our Medea planet into a Gaia in the longer term.

“Ward brings us full circle. Life is Medean, he’s argued for 140 pages, not Gaian. By its very nature, it’s self-destructive. The only hope in the very long run is through human foresight and planning, to ensure continued survival. Then, he implies, life on Earth life will have finally overcome its Medean nature. It will have become truely Gaian.”

This book will no doubt incite some fierce debate, especially within the modern Pagan community, where the Gaia hypothesis has been almost fully embraced.

Myth, Religion, and Percy Jackson: It look like critics are evenly split on “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”, with some saying it’s a lifeless slab of market research aiming for the Harry Potter dollar, while others were enchanted by seeing the Greek myths brought to life on screen. Those who might be enchanted particularly worries the Catholic New Service.

“…it may represent an attempted revival of pagan ideas with the potential to confuse impressionable kids.”

Then again, perhaps the Catholics should be worried, since young Catholics are increasingly relativistic regarding other faiths. As for the Pagans, they seem excited to see the film, and meet-ups are being planned. I’ll be interested to see reviews from Pagan film-goers emerge (especially from Pagan film critic Peg Aloi). As a kid who was completely enchanted by myths, which did eventually lead me to Paganism, I’m sure I would have utterly loved Percy Jackson. Maybe I’ll have to sneak out to a showing and treat my inner child a bit.

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

“After James Arthur Ray’s attorneys plastered their faces all over the media, on Good Morning America and Larry King Live, in a transparent attempt to influence a potential jury, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, has requested a “gag order” hearing. A gag order is a judge’s order prohibiting the attorneys and the parties to a pending lawsuit or criminal prosecution from talking to the media or the public about the case. The intent is usually to prevent prejudice due to pre-trial publicity which would influence potential jurors. Based on the “freedom of the press” provision of the First Amendment, the court cannot constitutionally restrict the media from printing or broadcasting information about the case. The prosecutor’s tool to stop a case from being tried in the press is a gag order on the participants under the court’s control. While the Gag Order would stop James Ray’s attorney’s from trying the case in the media, it would also stop the public from having access to any information from Yavapai county staff regarding any aspect of this case with the exception of the scheduling of hearings.”

Don’t Pay To Pray is also concerned that a jury trial in Sedona would result in “a jury composed of several people who conduct the same type of plastic sweat lodges that Ray did.” These concerns are echoed by Johnny P. Flynn, a Potawatomi Indian and  faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies at IUPUI, who says that Native religion will end up being put on trial by various non-Native “experts”.

“I am not a psychic or an attorney, but my experiences through the years with American Indian religious issues tell me this: even though James Ray will be sitting at the defense table, it will be our religious practices on trial in that courtroom. And it will be experts who will argue both sides of the case … In following the Ray story over the past few months, I am amazed at the number of non-Indian sweat lodge experts the media has been able to locate. Few Indians if any have been interviewed … James Ray’s defense might be compelled to bring in experts to argue that he did the ceremony the right way—and to insist that occasional and “unforeseen” death is one of the by-products of American Indian religious practices … The prosecution would then be compelled to bring in their “experts” to argue that a non-Indian, who allegedly learned to do this ceremony from “shamans” all over the world, did the sweat lodge the wrong way. Ray would be guilty of manslaughter by way of “malpractice” even if he is an “expert” on the sweat lodge.”

For the moment, Ray still sits in jail, while his lawyers appeal the 5 million dollar bail, and lawyers on both sides position themselves for the coming trial. If the gag order goes through, news on this issue could dry up until the trial starts. But I suspect there will still be plenty to talk about, like the James Ray true believers who are organizing prayer conference calls on his behalf, or the Native American (and guru-debunking) activists who are using services like Twitter to network and share information. It still remains to be see what reverberations will be felt in the larger New Age community, or if it will be business as usual after a short period of making noises about “accountability”. You can bet I’ll continue to keep you posted as things develop.

In Other News:

Stonehenge’s Modernist Box: Britain’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment is protesting the approved design for Stonehenge’s new visitor center, saying it would detract from the landmark, and that the new “twee” footpaths are more appropriate for an “urban garden”.

“We question whether, in this landscape of scale and huge horizons and with a very robust end point that has stood for centuries and centuries, this is the right design approach?” said Diane Haigh, CABE’s director of design review. “You need to feel you are approaching Stonehenge. You want the sense you are walking over Salisbury Plain towards the stones.”

This is quickly becoming a big issue for Britain. The new center was supposed to be a compromise on the scrapped plans to build a tunnel that would reroute traffic away from the site. With the looming influx of Olympics visitors, pressure is mounting to get the site ready for the spotlight. It remains to be seen if CABE’s objections will now slow that process down. You can see a concept photo of the proposed center, here.

Kupala not Valentine: A right-wing nationalist Polish group called Niklot (named after a famous Slavic pagan) is protesting the celebration of Valentine’s Day, saying that Slavic Poles should celebrate Kupala Day instead.

“Niklot claims that Poles should observe the Kupala Day, a Slavic fertility holiday traditionally celebrated on 23-24 June. On Kupala Day young men would jump over the flames of bonfires and girls would float wreaths of flowers often lit with candles on rivers, attempting to gain foresight into their relationship fortunes from the flow patterns of the flowers on the river.”

You can read more about Kupala and Kupala Day at Wikipedia. The Helsinki Federation for Human Rights is calling for city officials to oppose the group, who have been putting up posters that say “F**k Off Valentines”, claiming Niklot promotes racism and fascism. Niklot spokesman Ireneusz Woszczyk disputes these claims, saying the group is only interested in tradition. Could one of our experts on Slavic Paganism weigh in on this? Is this group extremist? Or are they misunderstood reconstructionists?

Haitian Vodou Leaders Lend the UN a Hand: United Nations officials in Haiti are asking for help from the estimated 60,000 voodoo priests and priestesses in that country to perform a census of the dead and injured.

“…in postquake Haiti, the practitioners of voodoo have taken on a more practical role, enlisted by the government to help count the dead, tend to the injured, and soothe the psychologically damaged. “One must understand that Haiti is voodoo,’’ said Max Beauvoir, 75, the “pope’’ of Haitian voodoo and a former biochemical engineer who once worked for Digital Equipment in Maynard, Mass. “Helping Haitians is nothing else but helping ourselves.’’ To make use of that resource, the United Nations has reached out to the vast and influential network of about 60,000 voodoo priests in Haiti, Beauvoir said. And the priests, firmly entrenched in their displaced communities, are eager to lend a hand.”

The article also interviews Vodou “pope” Max Beauvoir, and discusses how Haiti’s Houngans and Mambos are helping a traumatized nation regain its footing. Whatever the future may hold for Haiti, it seems very likely that Vodou will be an ongoing and important part of that future.

The Wicker Tree: In a final note, director Robin Hardy’s long-awaited sequel/re-imagining of 1973 cult-classic “The Wicker Man”, “The Wicker Tree”, finally has its own web site!

Looks nice! No word on a release date other than “2010″, but you can sign up for updates. For all of my previous coverage of “The Wicker Tree”, click here.

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

“‘Night of Pan’ is a seven and a half minute film featuring film auteur Kenneth Anger and actor Vincent Gallo. The film has been screened in various versions internationally – Beijing, Lisbon, Cannes, Athens, Rome, Berlin and elsewhere, but never in Butler’s base, Los Angeles. In the film, Anger, Gallo, and Butler depict an occult ritual that symbolizes the stage of ego death in the process of spiritual attainment.”

If you’re going to do a short ritualistic art-film, there’s no finer stamp of approval than getting Kenneth Anger (the undisputed master of the genre, and long-time Thelemite) to co-star in it. After it’s finished making the festival rounds, maybe they’ll post the whole thing to Youtube?

Turning from short art-films with Pagan and occult themes to long big-budget historical films with pagan themes, I have some “Agora” (the film about Hypatia of Alexandria) news to share. While Americans are still awaiting an official release date for the film, in Spain it has garnered 13 Goya Award nominations from the Spanish Film Academy.

“[Alejandro] Amenabar said at the ceremony in the Academy building that it had been “a great year for Spanish cinema” and was quick to push the worth of his fellow nominees, Agora co-scriptwriter Mateo Gil and lead actress Rachel Weisz.”

Now if we can only get a release date! Perhaps the new flurry of international acclaim and press will speed things along?

In a final “and water’s wet” sort of note, Vatican media isn’t pleased with the pantheistic elements of the global mega-blockbuster “Avatar”, criticizing it for turning “creation” into a “divinity to worship”.

“L’Osservatore said the film “gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature.” Similarly, Vatican Radio said it “cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium.” “Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship,” the radio said.”

And while we should never conflate Vatican media with the official opinion of the Pope, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi did state that these views “reflect” Benedict XVI’s opinions on the matter. Indeed, how could they not?  The pontiff has a long history of warning against the dangers of “neo-paganism”, especially within the context of environmental concerns. I’m sure Ross Douthat is excited to be so “on the same page” as his spiritual authority.

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

When he returned to Uganda he says he was told by those who had initiated him to kill his own son, aged 10. “I deceived my wife and made sure that everyone else had gone away and I was with my child alone. Once he was placed down on the ground, I used a big knife and brought it down like a guillotine.”

That sounds truly horrific, and the BBC rightly asks him if he’s willing to be prosecuted for the 70 people he claims to have killed in his former witch-doctoring life. The answer may (or may not) surprise you.

Asked if he was afraid he might now be prosecuted as a result of confessing to killing 70 people, he said: “I have been to all the churches… and they know me as a warrior in the drive to end witchcraft that involves human sacrifice, so I think that alone should indemnify me and have me exonerated.”

After that quote, I started questioning the validity of the entire article. It isn’t that I don’t believe children aren’t being abducted, abused, and killed in several African nations. There’s of plenty of evidence for that. I also acknowledge that some witch-doctors are indeed killing and mutilating certain children for various reasons. But the following portrait painted by the BBC, with help from Mr. Angela, raises many of my old “Satanic Panic” red flags. How often did we see former “Satanists” who claimed to have participated in murders and kidnappings, yet never bothered turning themselves into the police for one reason or another. There are other flags, a “nationwide network” of witch-doctors, with a “boss” who takes a cut of all the money, for example. To reiterate, I do think children are being harmed, and I think some of those harming children may in fact be witch doctors, but I’m deeply skeptical of some of the claims being raised here. They sound a little too perfect and well-organized to be fully true.

In Other News: New York city councilman, and practicing Theodsman, Dan Halloran, has been enjoying his recent electoral victory at a series of swearing-ins, functions, and parties. Connor Adams Sheets at YourNabe.com brings us an account of Halloran’s January 3rd swearing-in at the Fort Totten Officer’s Club in Bayside.

“The fete was a joyous end to a bitter campaign during which Halloran’s pagan faith was used against him; accusations of racism were cast by the campaign of his Democratic opponent, Kevin Kim; and both camps’ political rhetoric often degenerated into mudslinging. Beginning with the national anthem sung by Bayside cantor Margaret Abel and a rousing performance by a police bagpipe group, the ceremony was filled with humor, back-slapping and enthusiasm about the work Halloran will do for his native district over the next four years. Halloran pledged to uphold during his term the conservative principles he campaigned on by working to reduce taxes and help small business owners and middle-class families.”

Several local Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), and Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), showed up to the event, perhaps signaling an openness to bipartisan cooperation from both sides. We will, of course, be watching his political career with interest in the coming four years.

Want another perspective on “Avatar”? I hope that answer is “yes”, because here is author and techgnostic Erik Davis weighing in, saying that perhaps the film is more “ayahuasca lite” than “noble savage mysticism”.

“OK, maybe I am the one smoking something. But if there is an aya-Avatar connection, it would explain one crucial way in which the film differs from conventional “noble savage” mysticism. Rather than ground the Na’vi’s grooviness in their folklore or spiritual purity, the film instead presents the vision of a direct and material communications link with the plant mind. Which means that Eyra does not have to be believed—she can be experienced. After the temporary fusion with the Tree of Souls that fails to prevent her death, Weaver’s chain-smoking left-brain doctor happily confirms Ewya’s existence. Like the Vine of Souls now wending its way through the developed world, the Tree of Souls becomes a kind of bio-mystical media, a visionary communications matrix that uplinks the souls of the dead and the network mind of the ecosphere itself.”

So perhaps “Avatar” isn’t so much about pagan pantheism, but instead about communicating with the “plant mind”?  Then again, perhaps the film is whatever people want it to be. Different meanings for different minds. Wouldn’t that mean it’s great art? Perhaps the clunky dialog and trite plot are merely there as a prop for a mystical experience?

For those of you awaiting the “Lords of Chaos” movie adaptation, starring teen heartthrob Jackson Rathbone as Varg Vikernes, it looks like plans have changed. Rathbone is out due to “scheduling conflicts”, the production time-table has been shifted, and the plot of the film may be getting an overhaul. That last tidbit of news coming from Vikernes himself.

“Now, they are apparently basing the story of this movie not on my story, but on the ‘Lords Of Chaos’ story. Unfortunately the ‘Lords Of Chaos’ story is not only nonsense; incoherent and utterly contradictive, but it is also very lacking in information regarding the lives and traits of the individuals to be included as characters in the movie. One could easily think that this would make it impossible for anybody to make a movie based on this book, but of course if you simply fill in the holes yourself…”

With the movie seemingly in chaos, will they proceed? Will they pull a “Velvet Goldmine” and fictionalize the story to avoid more problems with the living-breathing subjects they want to tell a story about? Will the film get stuck in development hell? Your guess is as good as mine at this point.

In a final note, the Indian Express reports on a relatively new development, girls publicly performing Vedic prayer-chants, something that has been considered taboo for many Indians.

“Eight all-girl teams lined up on a foggy Delhi morning, raised their faces towards the sun and chanted Vedic suktas (prayers). In four minutes each, they breached with ease barriers that most Indian women are still not allowed to approach. The Vedic chanting event was part of the three-day Inter-School Value Festival held at the Sri Satya Sai Vidya Vihar Girls’ Public School, Kalkaji. Eight of 11 Sri Satya Sai Schools in North India are taking part in the event that began on Tuesday. “Vedic chanting by women was a social taboo in India, but things have started improving. In many parts of the country, women chanting suktas are still frowned upon,” said one of the judges at the competition, requesting anonymity.”

Let’s hear it for the breaking down of outmoded barriers, and for the freedom of women to publicly praise the goddesses, gods, and elements, of their homeland.

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

“The Goddess Movement would not be the same without her. Contemporary Paganism would not be the same without the Goddess Movement. The radical essentialism of thinkers like Daly was a challenge to the pole that said “only men can communicate with the divine”. That pillar that she went up against? Mostly it has changed, leaving behind laughable relics, some of whom unfortunately still hold a measure of power. Yes, inequality still exists and yes, I am still a feminist, but things have gotten better. Much, much better. I don’t know if Mary Daly was able to see the battles she actually won.” – T. Thorn Coyle

To be sure, Daly will be well-remembered not only as an ardent foe of patriarchy, but also as someone who passionately wanted to remove the idea of God from an exclusively male definition. She gladly “went overboard” in service of her cause, but did so with her wit and humor intact. May she rest in the arms of a Goddess.

In Other News: The New York Times makes a new-year visit to the Original Products Company in the Bronx, the East Coast’s largest botanica and ritual supply emporium (they reportedly take in around three million dollars per year). The report does a nice job of giving a sense of the place’s scale, and also conveys the religious diversity of their clientèle.

“This is the busiest time of the year for Original Products and the many other botanicas around the city and country — purveyors of herbs, amulets and other items used in Afro-Caribbean religions and occult practices including Santería, voodoo and Wicca … The company has turned over the second floor, rent free, to the Pagan Center of New York, which holds witchcraft rituals overseen by a Wiccan high priestess named Lady Rhea … A short plump man missing half his teeth approached the counter to speak with Mr. Allai, the Santería priest…”

What I also found interesting was that the owners, descendants of Sephardic Jews who emigrated from Turkey, don’t share in any of the belief systems of their customers.

Jason Mizrahi, a co-owner of the company, which was started in 1959 by his father, the son of Sephardic Jews who emigrated from Turkey. The business, which fills a former A.&P. supermarket on Webster Avenue near Fordham University, claims to be the largest botanica on the East Coast … Mr. Mizrahi does not follow any of the faiths his store provides for, but said he subscribed to the “concept of spirituality and keeping a positive attitude by using these products.” “These things are daily needs, staples,” he continued. “Milk, eggs, bread, incense, candles, in that order. Sometimes incense and candles are ahead of milk and eggs, on a day like today.”

Perhaps the owner not being directly involved cuts down on drama? There’s no hint that the customers mind this arrangement. Whatever they are doing, it sure seems to be working. I’d just like to take a stroll through a botanica that large some day, it must be quite the experience.

Can you get anthrax from attending a drumming circle? The answer is apparently yes.

“A New Hampshire woman who is critically ill with gastrointestinal anthrax most likely swallowed spores while participating in a community drumming circle, state health officials said Tuesday.”

So how exactly do you get anthrax from drums? I got the following answer via e-mail from Michael Lloyd, who has some knowledge and experience of this phenomenon.

“When I am not writing about Paganism or running a Pagan men’s gathering, my real-world job is as an engineering consultant in the fields of risk management and security/anti-terrorism. One tidbit of information that I ran across several years ago was that shipments of improperly tanned hides from certain countries (notably Haiti) are routinely screened for anthrax contamination. Now while the exact cause of the anthrax infection in NH was not released, I suspect that one or more of the drum heads was made of anthrax contaminated hide. This appears to be bolstered by the article, which notes that several of the drums were contaminated. With the drum circle being held indoors during the winter, this would have increased the chances of exposure in the confined space by concentrating the spores. One good reason to use a synthetic drum head, at least when indoors. But this also points to a potential problem during other times of the year when the drummer has cuts, blisters, or abrasions on their hands that could allow anthrax from a contaminated head to gain entry to the body. Something to think about.”

Now scientists say the chances for infection from drums is very low, but it’s always good to know where your natural-hide drum-skins are coming from, and take proper precautions.

Apple growers in Somerset are getting ready to Wassail their orchards for a good harvest come the Spring.

“Wassailing is an ancient pagan tradition held on Old Twelfth Night which falls on 17 January. Although many are held on this date, others observe the Gregorian calendar where Twelfth Night falls on 6 January. The Wassail is held to scare off worms and maggots that are regarded as ‘evil’ spirits and to attract the ‘good’ spirit embodied by the robin. The ceremony takes place around the oldest orchard tree where it is toasted and traditional Wassail songs are sung.”

Of course you can’t have a good Wassail without some Morris dancing too! Any Pagans out there planning to do some Winter-time Morris-dancing or Wassailing? Let us know in the comments.

In a final note, the Washington Post wonders if the movies are getting more religious.

“In movies as varied as the dead serious “The Road,” the uplifting family picture “The Blind Side,” the biting comedy “The Invention of Lying” and even James Cameron’s sci-fi opus “Avatar,” issues of faith and morality and mankind’s place in the universe are all the rage.”

It’s a shame that the article seems to equate the “religious audience” with the “Christian audience”, even though they mention the pantheistic “Avatar” as part of the trend. With films like films “Agora”, “The Wicker Tree”,  “Clash of the Titans” and “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” coming up in 2010, it seems rather obvious there is a market for non-Christian “religious/spiritual” films.

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

10. Counting (and not counting) the Pagans: Just as the Pew Forum’s 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey gave us new insights into just how many Pagans there are in America, so too does the release of Trinity College’s American Religious Identification Survey data in March of this year. The ARIS survey, like the Pew Forum, showed that modern Pagan religions remain vital and growing.

“As you can see, ‘New Religious Movements and Other Religions’ packed on over a million adherents since 2001, and over 1.5 million in the last twenty years. That brings the total of “others” to nearly 3 million … Both Pew and ARIS give “other” faiths 1.2% of the (American) pie. That in turn seems to back up my earlier assertion that there are at least one million modern Pagans in America (probably more like 1.5 million), add in the over half-million UUs (around 20% of whom are “earth-based” or Pagan) close to a million practitioners of Santeria (in North America), and a few hundred thousand indigenous practitioners, and it seems clear that notions of our continued (slow and steady) growth aren’t unfounded.” in some respect),

Paganism’s healthy growth among the “others”, wasn’t the only survey or poll that was of interest. We also saw proof that America is far more religiously eclectic than some might have imagined, that quite a few Pagans are politically active, and that around half of Americans have heard of Wicca (and aren’t too impressed).

However, not all polling organizations thought Pagans (and other “others”) were worth counting.

“Why were “other” non-Christians not included? No Muslims, no Buddhists, no Pagans. Nothing. They must have that data, so why not release it with the rest? It can’t be simple numerical preferences since the recent ARIS data puts “NRMs and Other Religions” on par with religiously observant Jews and just behind the Mormons, two groups that were included in the released data. Is it down to political influence? I’ve sent a request to Gallup to release the “others” data, but haven’t received a response yet.”

Of course, if you want something done right, why not do it yourself? Pagan scholar Helen Berger, co-author of “Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States”, along with fellow researchers James R. Lewis and Henrik Bogdan, revisited the Pagan Census project this year. I very much look forward to seeing what the updated data will say about our movement.

09. Modern Paganism Goes Global: Even though the emergence of modern Paganism is a well known story in places like Britain, America, and Australia, we saw this year that the modern Pagan impulse has become a truly global phenomenon. Receiving press attention in places like India, Israel, Russia, and South Africa, where an out Pagan serves as an MP.

“Meet Adrian Williams, the only pentacle-wearing witch in parliament. But the card-carrying ANC and South African Communist Party member, 43, from Mpumalanga has renounced the terms “witch” and “witchcraft” because he maintains the issue needs to be treated with sensitivity in South Africa. Williams practises “magick”, but calls himself a pagan or eclectic wiccan.”

As we move forward, we’ll need to start considering what it means that modern forms of Paganism are now truly “world” religions, and adjust our expectations and views of global events in light of that fact. Problems “over there” do affect us, because “we” are now “over there” too. In tomorrow’s top-five, we’ll explore some of the issues that a global Paganism faces, and what that may mean for us in interfaith settings.

08. Our Media Landscape and the Shifting Sands of Religious Journalism: The whole idea of a “top ten stories” list hinges on there being enough stories about modern Pagans to read and evaluate, and 2009 certainly made some wonder if that prospect might become harder in the near future. With the combination punch of an ascendant new-media and a lousy economy, lots of newspapers eliminated their religion beats (or shuttered completely), and some religion journalists anticipated the future being rather bleak.

“Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Paulson called religion-beat reporters a “dwindling band” who have suffered a “serious reversal of fortune” compared to a decade ago. Meanwhile, veteran religion-reporter Gary Stern blogged about his paper eliminating the religion beat, and Mollie at Get Religion wondered how these shake-ups will change the way that blog analyzes religion reporting.”

What does that mean for us? It could mean a lot less attention being paid to Pagans on the ever-dwindling religion-beat. That could be a big problem for those of us who want to stay informed, because our Pagan-created sources of news have had a rough time of things this year as well.

“After the recent merger of PanGaia and newWitch into Witches & Pagans, and the announcement of Thorn magazine ceasing their print edition, I decided to take the temperature of various Pagan periodicals and the resulting picture is rather grim. Of the 32 periodicals listed at the Witches’ Voice, only a handful seem to still be active, operating on a regular publishing schedule, and dealing primarily with Pagan subject matter. Modern Witch Magazine is “out of publication” after one year and three issues, Witch Eye: A Journal of Feri Uprising promises to return in 2009, but the clock is quickly running out for that deadline, and the two best-known Pagan newspapers PagaNet and Widdershins have been out of commission for years.”

We all need to get our content from somewhere, and while the best blogs and podcasts have been doing more and more primary-source journalism, we face a major deficit of news and information if our community doesn’t pull together to pick up some of that slack.  Projects to address this issue are still in their infancy, and it will take a serious amount of collaboration and cooperation to see a robust and thriving Pagan journalism emerge from these troubled times.

07. Paganism in Pop-Culture, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: While serious news may be hurting, the past 12 months have been one of the biggest in recent memory for Pagan themes in popular media. There was the Wiccan-centric episode of “The Simpsons”, the (awful) Wiccan-centric episode of “The Mentalist”, Santeria on “CSI”, a maenad on “True Blood”, and we remained popular on a variety of reality television programs. Still, it wasn’t all awful on the little screen, Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” was a beautiful endorsement of American-grown pantheistic nature religion.

“While the bulk of the twelve hours is spent recounting various grass-roots efforts and political struggles over park creation, almost the entire first episode is devoted to the spiritual dimension of nature (called, appropriately enough, “The Scripture of Nature”). Briefly referencing the influence of works by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Burns makes ground-breaking naturalist and preservationist John Muir the centerpiece. “National Parks” clearly illustrates how his unique brand of Christian-colored pantheism (along with a keen scientific mind) would go on to inspire many, including President Theodore Roosevelt, to preserve vast swathes of American wilderness. The early episodes also take care to mention Native American spiritual and political perspectives, and extensively interviews National Parks superintendent, and Mandan-Hidatsa Indian, Gerard Baker (who says that John Muir would have made a good Medicine Man).”

Meanwhile, on the big screen, most of the big news were about films that we won’t see until 2010. There was news of the long-awaited companion/sequel to “The Wicker Man”, entitled “The Wicker Tree”, that is now filming. The film “Agora”, about the famous Neoplatonist philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, was adrift looking for an American distributor for months despite positive box office and reviews in Europe. Many thought it was because distributors were worried it might offend Christians. In addition, two upcoming Greek-myth-drenched films “Clash of the Titans” and “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” may make 2010 the year of pop-polytheism.

2009, however, seems to be the year of rampant Hollywood pantheism according to the various conservative critics who saw the blockbuster “Avatar”.

“So I guess the conservative intelligentsia has spoken (David Brooks must not have gotten the memo). Pantheism is bad, Hollywood is bad, Americans are foolish eclectic-syncretic Eckhart Tolle-reading dupes who love pantheism, and we (and our souls) are all in big (I assume) trouble. Of course this reading of Hollywood’s output is a tad skewed, and relies on a rather scatter-shot selection of films (“Dances With Wolves”, Disney’s “Pocahontas” and “The Lion King”, “Star Wars”, and, well, “Fern Gully”, I guess) to convince us that pantheism is the with-it thing in Hollywood and beyond. But it just doesn’t seem to line up as well as they seem to think it does.”

I can only imagine that my 2010 round-up will be even more full of surprises, disappointments, and opportunities than 2009. Oh, and speaking of pagan-ish pop-culture in 2009, some guy named Dan Brown released a book about Masons, it also made some conservatives unhappy.

06. Equal Treatment at Work and School, and the Litigation that Follows: This year has seen a lot of high-profile cases of discrimination (and alleged discrimination) of Pagans in the news. You had the Witch who was fired from the University of Nebraska receive a settlement, the Bath & Body Works manager who was fired for making a pilgrimage to Salem, and a Pagan employee of Google who claims he was mocked and fired for his faith. In addition to those cases, you had the school child who was accused of threatening demon possession, though the parent was not allowed to examine the evidence.

“Denise DeSadier was not allowed to read the accusations made against her son that got him suspended, and their veracity was seemingly never questioned by the principle (who assured a reporter from the local college paper that the matter was investigated fully) . Further, Shaun was forced to undergo an evaluation of his mental stability before being allowed to return to class, and this incident was placed in his permanent record, marking him as some sort of potential safety risk. Short of pursuing a lawsuit against the school, or dropping out altogether, there is no recourse for these accusations that have marred Shaun’s record.  Wishing only to finish high-school and move on to college, Shaun has jumped through the necessary hoops, and wants to move on with his life.”

In our search for equal treatment, in our slow integration into the mainstream, there will be those who want to destroy lives simply for being different. Who will use our litigation victories as a pretext to fan the populist flames to further their own careers. But I think these cases, disturbing as some of them are, are a sign of progress. That they highlight just how far we’ve come, a place where the ACLU readily fights for us, where our standing as “real religions” are usually taken as a given. We’ll no doubt see more cases like this in 2010, but I also think we’ll see fewer than 2009, and we’ll see even more victories establishing our equal protection and equal treatment under the law. These cases are big news, but I think we’ll see a day where they are truly rare.

Tomorrow I will post the top five Pagan stories for 2009. In the meantime, I invite you to check out the top religion stories from some different perspectives. Here are the Religion Newswriters Association’s picks, the top 10 from Time, the top 10 from The Telegraph, US News and World Report, and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Freedom.