I have some other stories of note to share with you today, starting with the sad news that actor Edward Woodward, 79, passed away yesterday due to complications from pneumonia. Woodward is well-known to many Pagan film lovers as “Christian copper” Sgt. Howie from the original cult-classic 1973 film “The Wicker Man” (and better-known to most Americans as the lead in the 1980s vigilante series “The Equalizer”).

Edward Woodward in “The Wicker Man”

At news of his passing, “Wicker Man” director Robin Hardy said that Woodward was “one of the greatest actors of his generation”, while co-star Sir Christopher Lee called him “a good friend and a splendid actor”. Matt Holmes at “Obsessed With Film” says that Woodward (as Sgt. Howie) committed the most memorable “gut-wrenching” on-screen death ever, while Pagan film reviewer Peg Aloi offers a touching farewell.

“Woodward is remembered by many of his colleagues as a kind, warm man who told wonderful stories, as well as being a consummate actor. His distinguished career will long be remembered. In particular, his role as Sergeant Howie in The Wicker Man will be remembered for its complexity, subtlety and power. Howie is a repressive, seemingly cold-mannered police officer who eventually reveals stunning emotional depth and passion. Woodward’s portrayal unfolds with delicious tension and suspense, as the film builds to its shocking ending.”

Here’s to you Mr. Woodward, thank you for your work, may you find peace across the veil.

Turning from the sad news of this passing, to the optimistic idea of deeper understanding and communication between faiths, we have an interesting editorial from the national Catholic weekly America. There, Catholic priest and Harvard professor Francis X. Clooney, S.J., who has argued in the past against “bland secularism” at Catholic colleges, favoring instead a “religiously diverse” campus, talks about his experiences teaching the class “Hindu Goddesses and the Blessed Virgin Mary”.

“The mix of the course is thus quite extraordinary: some wonderful Hindu and Christian texts read by a great group of students, as we discuss a wide range of issues about scripture, our images of God and humanity, and what to make of the varied religious experiences of the human race. Harvard is not the place wherein to reach single, definite conclusions about truth, but I think that this learning across religious boundaries does open us to truth, to Truth. By studying the traditions of the goddesses and Mary together, we understand both more clearly; those of us who are Catholic at Harvard find ourselves brought closer to devotion to Mary, who holds her own in every discussion. The goddesses too fare well, though each of us has to make up her or his own mind on how to appropriate these goddess traditions.”

Perhaps there’s room in this world for Mary and the goddesses? That seems to be at least partially the gist, he even recounts how a group of students sing hymns to both Mary and the goddesses before each class, and how both the Catholics and the goddess-worshipers have deepened their understanding and practice. To read more about Clooney’s work, you should read his essay “Interreligious Dialogue: Goddess in the Classroom”, and check out his book, “Divine Mother, Blessed Mother: Hindu Goddesses and the Virgin Mary”.

In a final “War on Christmas” note, it seems the American Family Assn. is issuing its yearly call to boycott The Gap for not saying “Christmas” even though the clothing chain’s silly wince-inducing holiday ad name-checks several yule-tide holidays, including “Christmas”, “Hanukka”, and “Solstice”.

“It’s unlikely the new Gap ads will placate the psalm-singers in Tupelo. After all, in the spirit of inclusiveness, Christmas is mentioned in the same breath as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and solstice. The winter solstice, as everyone knows, is a pagan celebration, so — viewed through a peculiarly warped lens — the Gap ad puts Christians on the same level as a bunch of blue-paintedheathens dancing around a Yule log drinking mead out of a stag horn.”

The LA Times is dead-on the money, as the AFA has issued a boycott update saying the Christmas-invoking ad is “completely dismissive and disrespectful to those who celebrate the meaning and spirit of Christmas.” Yes, whatever happened to all those tasteful clothing-chain holiday ads that didn’t cheapen the holy Winter months by trying to sell you loads of stuff.

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

“We are a Pagan congregation that is encountering entrenched discrimination in upstate New York and currently in court fighting for our rights as a minority religion.  The Maetreum of Cybele is a Goddess-centred, reconstructionist religion.  Although we are not Wiccan, many of us come from Wiccan backgrounds and still practice as such. We have been noted in Margot Adler’s “Drawing Down the Moon, Pat Telesco’s “Which Witch is Which” and Raven Kaldera’s “Hermaphrodeities”.  Our founder has been active in the Pagan Community since the 60’s.

We own real property and run a brick-and-mortar establishment in the Town of Catskill in Greene County, New York.  Our property consists of a historic former Catskill Inn called Central House and approximately 3+ acres of land with an outdoor Temple/Grove in the hamlet of Palenville.  We purchased the property 2002 and turned it into a Pagan Temple and Convent.  A Pagan Convent you ask?  No, it’s not a contradiction in terms.  What we do is provide both temporary and permanent housing for Pagan priestess who wish to dedicate themselves more fully to serving their community as well as for purposes of spiritual retreat, safety and growth.

Not long after we purchased the property a local slumlord addressed a town meeting calling for us to be run out of town by way of zoning and building inspection harassment. While most of the people in town rejected his call and welcomed us, nevertheless over the course of the next several years we weathered continued harassment, vandalism, threats to “burn us out” followed by harassing and illegal inspections.

We incorporated in 2005, put the property in the name of the religious corporation and applied for property tax exemption which was granted in 2006.  The following year the renewal of the exemption was denied without given reason ironically enough within weeks of our Federal 501 (C)3 status being approved.  The Town of Catskill has continued to deny our exemption to this day in open violation of New York tax law which mandates the property tax exemption for religious and charitable organizations.

Today our situation is that we are considered behind on these illegal taxes and thus in potential danger of having our property taken away which is probably the motive here.  Our case is currently in court however we were forced at the last minute to go “pro se” (represent ourselves) because the attorney we were working with would not represent us in court.  Under New York law we must have a lawyer represent us because we are incorporated and we have been ordered by the court to hire a lawyer.  We were actually ordered to use all our connections and networking so this letter is actually by court order
- believe it or not.

We have also contacted the Department of Justice.  Because, after three years of refusing to give a reason for the denial, we were told this year it was because of a zoning violation which is actually prohibited by Federal law under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.  We are hoping, as provided by the law, that the DOJ will pursue criminal charges.”

The Matreum is requesting the Pagan community’s help in finding a sympathetic lawyer. It seems they have been turned down by over 30 lawyers already. If you know a Pagan or Pagan-friendly lawyer in New York who might be willing to talk to them and look into their case, I’m sure it would be appreciated (contact e-mail). They are also soliciting donations towards their cause, asking for people to forward this message, do energy work on their behalf, and inviting people to visit their Maetreum in upstate New York. I should also note that if you are a journalist who reads my blog, this could make a great religion-news story that deserves looking into. Oh, and it seems they have a Facebook fan-page, though it doesn’t mention their current crisis.

Finally, a word of caution. While I’m certainly sympathetic to the case here, I should also note that anyone wanting to donate should do their own investigations into the organization first. I do not know, and am not familiar with, this organization or Cathryn Platine. So please do look things over, contact them, and decide for yourself if this all seems legitimate. I’m reprinting this here, now, because it seems urgent and, on its face, a legitimate case of a Pagan group being screwed over.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Will the Goddess Movement thrive after the Baby-Boom generation is gone? That’s the concern of Sage Starwalker, co-editor of the MatriFocus e-zine, which just released its Lammas 2009 issue. Starwalker argues that the Goddess Movement needs to be more engaged online in order to reach members of Generation Y and beyond.

“What can we do to make sure that the Goddess Movement lives beyond our generation? I’ve asked myself this question many times. Recently I asked a room full of Goddess Scholars[1] to consider: While some young girls are lucky enough to be invited to rituals, and some are educated about the Goddess by their families, many girls, young women, and nascent queens have yet to discover Goddess. If they’re not in our homes or attending our public rituals or our workshops, where do we find them? Or perhaps the better question is this: Where do they find us?  … If the serious archeological, philosophical, and historical Goddess work and the community of scholarship and shared discussion aren’t happening on the Web, the members of GenY (and their younger siblings) won’t be likely to find their home in it.”

Starwalker endorses the use of social media like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LiveJournal to reach out to younger people, a tactic that others in the Goddess Movement must agree with since you can find folks like Z Budapest, Susan Weed, and Carolyn Lee Boyd twittering away at Twitter. Whether this inter-generational networking will grow the Goddess Movement for the future remains to be seen, but you should all head over to MatriFocus and read the entirety of Sage Starwalker’s interesting editorial.

As much as it pains me to mention Robert Wright again after his rather disastrous essay on shamanism and neo-shamanism for Slate.com, both The Daily Dish and the Religion News Service Blog have mentioned an excerpt from his new book “The Evolution of God” on a subject near and dear to many Pagan hearts: “Did Yahweh have a wife?”

“One oft-claimed difference [between the pagan gods and Yahweh] is that whereas the pagan gods had sex lives, Yahweh didn’t … It’s true that there’s no biblical ode to Yahweh that compares with the Ugaritic boast that Baal copulated with a heifer “77 times,” even “88 times,” or that El’s penis “extends like the sea.” And it seems puzzling: If Yahweh eventually merged with [the Canaanite god] El, and El had a sex life, why didn’t the postmerger Yahweh have one? Why, more specifically, didn’t Yahweh inherit El’s consort, the goddess Athirat? Maybe he did. There are references in the Bible to a goddess named Asherah, and scholars have long believed that Asherah is just the Hebrew version of Athirat. Of course, the biblical writers don’t depict Asherah as God’s wife … However, in the late twentieth century, archaeologists discovered intriguing inscriptions, dating to around 800 BCE, at two different Middle Eastern sites. The inscriptions were blessings in the name not just of Yahweh but of ‘his Asherah.’”

For Wright, this is just further confirmation of his theory that “God” evolved into his/its current (mostly) benevolent  (and monotheistic) form (instead of it being mere religious revisionism). This “polytheism evolved into monotheism” idea has been a popular theory amongst certain Christian thinkers for ages. The trouble is that you have to ignore a lot of stuff (or make some rather insulting generalizations about non-monotheistic cultures) to make this idea work.

“How good is his theology? Wright has done extensive homework, and recounts the history of the Abrahamic faiths in detail, beginning with the animism of early hunter-gatherers and moving through polytheism and monolatry (the worship of several gods with one dominating) to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, ancient and modern. (What about other faiths? In his zeal to pull societies toward moral perfection, did the Lord of the Universe forget the Hindus, aboriginals, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Scientologists?) The problem is that Wright has a tendency, already demonstrated in Nonzero, to dwell on data that support his theory and to ignore those that do not support it.”

Wright’s idea of an ever-evolving (single) God bringing us all to benevolence is a fantasy to reassure nominal Christians and borderline agnostics that religion isn’t an obstacle to enlightenment and peace. The trouble with his theory is that it privileges monotheism with an ethical uniqueness that it simply doesn’t posses.

For a change of pace, let’s look at a newly released book that I’m looking forward to reading. The University of Chicago Press has recently released a new book by Cathy Gere entitled “Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism”, on how British archaeologist Arthur Evans’ excavation and reconstruction of the palace of Knossos on Crete helped inspire a generation of thinkers and artists.

“With Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism, Cathy Gere relates the fascinating story of Evans’s excavation and its long-term effects on Western culture. Gere shows how Evans’s often-fanciful account of ancient Minoan society captivated a generation riven by serious doubts about the fundamental values of European civilization. After the First World War left the Enlightenment dream in tatters, the lost paradise that Evans offered in the concrete labyrinth—pacifist and matriarchal, pagan and cosmic—seemed to offer a new way forward for writers, artists, and thinkers such as Freud, James Joyce, Georgio de Chirico, Robert Graves, Hilda Doolittle, all of whom emerge as forceful characters in Gere’s account.”

Sounds like a must-read for anyone interested in the cultural threads that ultimately fed into the rebirth of Paganism. You can view the table of contests, here, and read the introduction, here. You can read an interesting review of the book, here.

The Nanaimo Daily News has a by-the-numbers piece on a local Pagan Pride Day event in case you feel nostalgic for the good old days of journalistic accounts of modern Paganism.

“There will be no sacrifices, disembowelling of chickens of goats or the casting of spells to turn someone into a toad. But don’t be shocked if you run into your neighbour at the Pagan Pride Day celebration at Departure Bay Beach on Saturday … “They find out we all have children, so obviously we don’t eat them. They realize it’s a very gentle and personal religion,” she says.”

Come to Pagan Pride Day! We won’t dismbowl a goat in front of you, turn you into a toad, or eat your children!

In a final note, Google News has been slowly building up its newspaper archives, recently quadrupling the number of articles you can search at the beginning of August. As journalism’s history gets digitized, it will allow us to get a clearer picture of how coverage of modern Paganism has (and hasn’t) evolved. A neat function of the Google News archive search is looking at the cool little interactive news-volume graph when you search within a set number of years.

The above graphic is mentions of the word “Wicca” from 1970 to 2009. From it you can see that 1999 was a watershed moment in being noticed by the press. You can also see how it is now possible to do a daily blog centered on Pagan news. If only they had a digital record of British newspapers, we could really track the history of modern Paganism through journalistic accounts.

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

Move over Long Man of Wilmington and Cerne Abbas Giant, a mining company is carving a 400-yard goddess figure into the Northumberland landscape.

“Dubbed the “Goddess of the North”, Northumberlandia will be made from two million tonnes of earth dug out from an open cast mine in Cramlington, and tower 112ft into the northern sky. The Goddess, designed by artist Charles Jencks, will recline over the Shotton open-cast mine and form the centre piece of a new public park at the site.”

One wonders if this new addition to Britain’s landscape will, in a few hundred years, be considered an “ancient” pre-Christian survival by the locals. It will also be interesting to see if the site will become a pilgrimage place for modern Pagans and Goddess-worshippers.

The Oxford University Press blog points us to a “Meet the Author” interview with Owen Davies.

Davies is the author of  “Grimoires: A History of Magic Books”, a truly interesting work that you can expect to see a full review of at this blog sometime soon.

The Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) has given awards to three Llewellyn Worldwide titles: “Faith and Magick in the Armed Forces”, by Stefani E. Barner (Best New Wiccan/Pagan Title), “Magic, Power, Language, Symbol”, by Patrick Dunn (Best New Magic Title) and “The Enchanted Oracle”, by Jessica Galbreth and Barbara Moore (Best New Divination Title).

“COVR is an organization formed by a unique group of businesses that deal in “Visionary Resources,” and who work with and support each other as independent retailers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and publishers of visionary books, music, and merchandise. For the twelfth consecutive year, COVR’s Visionary Awards were presented at the International New Age Trade Show (INATS) banquet, this year held on June 27th, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. The Visionary Awards are judged by retailers and seasoned professionals, who evaluate each title based upon content, presentation, and their own knowledge of the industry.”

Congratulations to Llewellyn and the assorted authors/artists involved. The publisher won two awards at last year’s gathering. As for the The International New Age Trade Show, you may remember that I reported on their contraction due to the economy last year.

Our pal Don Rimer is hitting the newswires again, promoting his upcoming appearance on a forensics radio program.

“Talk Forensics, a new talk radio show hosted by Larry E. Daniel of Guardian Digital Forensics, is proud to announce that DON RIMER Ritual Crime & The Occult Expert will be the guest this Sunday, July 5th at 4pm eastern. Don Rimer is a retired, 33-year veteran of the Virginia Beach, Virginia Police Department. He currently serves as the Public Information officer and Chaplain for the Virginia Gang Investigators Association. He is an internationally recognized authority on Ritual Crime and the Occult. He serves as an investigator and consultant to agencies throughout the United States and Canada.”

Ah yes, an “internationally recognized authority” (recognized by whom, exactly) who mixes just enough CYA (cover your assets) disclaimers into his old-school “occult crime” scare tactics to continue booking those speaking gigs at churches and civic groups. No doubt he’ll be around soon to remind us that he has a Wiccan friend advisor who gives him books to read.

In a final note, it looks like the Vatican is going to be tightening the theological reigns on American Nuns. Prompted by Cardinal Franc Rodé, who publicly wondered if some Nuns were operating “outside” the bounds of Church doctrine, orders will be evaluated on how well they are living in “fidelity” to their order’s (and the Church’s) guidelines.

“Cardinal Levada sent a letter to the Leadership Conference saying an investigation was warranted because it appeared that the organization had done little since it was warned eight years ago that it had failed to “promote” the church’s teachings on three issues: the male-only priesthood, homosexuality and the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church as the means to salvation.”

U.S. Bishops have already decreed that the practice of Reiki (energy healing), which was apparently gaining quite a bit of popularity among some nuns, to be outside the bounds of Church doctrine. Will we soon see a crack-down on nuns who have shown hospitality to Goddess-groups in the past? The coming years may be some tough one for the more doctrinally liberal elements in the Catholic Church.

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

“The best festival I’ve ever participated in, I heard about through word of mouth fifteen years ago. Festival has many different meanings depending on the person. The Hippie might be thinking about Rothbury this year, with it’s heavy Deadhead lineup. The Artist might think of Burning Man where contributory art is everywhere and fires abound. Somewhere in that intersection is Starwood.  Billed as the largest Pagan festival in North America, it is that and so much more … Starwood is a festival unlike any other. It is quite literally what you make it. Some people live for the drumming, while others are intent on attending as many workshops as they can. For some it is a hedonistic party while for others it is a deeply spiritual and transformative experience (and in fact is often both at the same time.) Though not exclusively a music festival, between the concerts, the radio station, and the night’s drumming, the music never stops.”

Dare I wonder if Starwood is becoming, well, hip? Will people start talking about Starwood they way they talk about Burning Man? Maybe, but the musical lineup is still heavily weighted towards the folky-pagan and old hippie, with touches of world music, so I think they have awhile before they’re completely inundated with outsiders.

The wonderful Goddess spirituality blog Medusa Coils points to a recent essay by Starhawk at Alive Mind & Spirit that explores the ever-shrinking mainstream market for “women’s spirituality” book titles, and what that has done to their movement.

“…although you may or may not have noticed, major publishers are no longer terribly interested in books on women’s spirituality.  Why?  Back in the ‘eighties, HarperSanFrancisco published not just me but a whole lot of great books—Carol Christ, Marija Gimbutas, Z. Budapest, Luisah Teish, Vicki Noble if I’m remembering it all right.  They were the books we read, discussed, got excited about and inspired by. Then sometime in the nineties they dropped just about everyone except me—not because the books weren’t selling, but because they weren’t selling enough.  They lost interest in publishing for a strong, steady niche, and only really wanted to publish blockbusters for the mass market … it had a debilitating effect on the movement.  Without the books to inspire women, without new books to continue the discussions and debate, we lost ground, especially with younger women.”

Starhawk also seems to partially blame the Internet and blogging on this shift, though she hasn’t been shy in utilizing the web to fuel her own activist concerns and capitalist endeavours (one wonders how many new readers she gets from her lofty perch at the Newsweek/Washington Post-backed On Faith blog). It is true that book publishers are increasingly focused on “blockbusters”, but it’s also true that there has been a slow shift in the “New Age” book market away from Pagan/occult material and towards the Oprah-style self-empowerment/improvement genre(s). The industry is in flux, and the Pagan and Goddess-focused authors and small publishers will have to think of new ways to reach their audiences (just as the book Starhawk mentions, “Women of Wisdom”, seems to be doing).

In a final note, the First Amendment Center reminds Christians who complain about minority-faith accommodation that they are the one’s who wrote the rules that exclusively benefited them, and who now must deal with the changes that come from a truly religiously pluralistic (and free) society.

“When people complain about the growing list of requests for accommodation in public schools from students and parents from minority faiths, I like to remind them that the majority faith wrote the rules. Founded as Protestant-dominated institutions in the 19th century, public schools never open on Sunday, close for Christmas, and in other ways institutionalize accommodations for the majority faith … Students in the majority faith rarely need religious accommodation in public schools because the majority wrote the rules in the first place – and in many places still writes the rules. For students like Adriel whose faith is unfamiliar to many school officials, it’s often difficult to get a fair hearing. For some school officials, rules are rules – no exceptions. But religious liberty, or freedom of conscience, is our nation’s first freedom. Rather than complaining about all those requests for accommodation, we should be celebrating the genius of the First Amendment, which recognizes religious liberty as an inalienable right for people of all faiths and none. It takes work – and accommodation isn’t always possible. But taking claims of conscience seriously should be at the heart of what it means to be an American.”

Religious freedom means freedom for all religions. The Protestants who wrote the rules may never have envisioned a day when Pagan, or Buddhist, or even Muslim students would one day be a part of their societal fabric, but thanks to our (Enlightenment and Deist-influenced) Constitution we have the ability to thrive in that changed world.

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

The Assumption of the Virgin by Rubens.

“When Pope Benedict XVI told a crowd in St. Peter’s Square in April that the Virgin Mary “silently followed her son Jesus to Calvary, taking part with great suffering in his sacrifice, thus cooperating in the mystery of redemption and becoming mother of all believers,” most listeners probably heard nothing remarkable in the statement. After all, devotion to Mary is a pervasive element of the Catholic faith, and one of the features that most clearly distinguishes it from Protestantism. Yet for one group of devotees, Benedict’s statement was a milestone — a sign that he had moved one step closer to granting their wish for a new dogma on Mary’s contribution to human salvation. At least 7 million Catholics from more than 170 countries, including hundreds of bishops and cardinals, have reportedly signed petitions urging the pope to proclaim Mary “the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the coredemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race.” In other words, the Virgin Mary — though always subordinate to and dependent on the will of Christ — plays an active, unique and irreplaceable role in helping her son deliver mankind from sin and death.”

The article mentions that many believe John Paul II wanted to make Mary Co-Redemptrix during his Papacy but was advised not to in order to not trouble the waters of Christian ecumenicism. However, some proponents of Mary as Co-Redemptrix say it would ultimately help ecumenical efforts because it would prove they don’t see Mary as part of the Holy Trinity.

“This would bring new clarity that Catholics do not adore Mary as a goddess,” Miravalle said. “It would underscore what Catholics do believe — that she is your spiritual mother — but at the same time that she is not the fourth person of the Blessed Trinity.”

While Benedict has criticized the idea of Mary as Co-Redemptrix in the past, he could be changing his tune in order to continue his efforts to unite and strengthen the Catholic Church. After all, Marians are often the staunchest, and in many cases, the most conservative, of Catholics and Benedict hasn’t seemed to mind courting controversy in reaching out to them. Besides, the fringe Protestant groups who demonize Catholics for worshipping the “Queen of Heaven”, and take credit for killing prominent Catholics with their prayers, aren’t going to stop simply because Benedict holds off on making Mary Co-Redemptrix. Why not officially acknowledge that which many rank-and-file already believe?

It remains to be seen if Benedict is truly sending out a “dog whistle” to Marians that he is with them, or if it is merely wishful thinking on the part of the Co-Redemptrix supporters. Certainly those of us who are interested in how non-Pagan religions engage with the divine feminine (whether they officially acknowledge her as that or not) will be keeping an eye out.

We start off with the sad news that author and surgeon Dr. Leonard Shlain passed away on Monday at the age of 71. Shlain is perhaps best known within the Pagan, Goddess, and New Age communities as the author of “The Alphabet Versus The Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image”.

“In this groundbreaking book, Leonard Shlain, author of the bestselling Art & Physics, proposes that the process of learning alphabetic literacy rewired the human brain, with profound consequences for culture. Making remarkable connections across a wide range of subjects including brain function, anthropology, history, and religion, Shlain argues that literacy reinforced the brain’s linear, abstract, predominantly masculine left hemisphere at the expense of the holistic, iconic feminine right one. This shift upset the balance between men and women initiating the disappearance of goddesses, the abhorrence of images, and, in literacy’s early stages, the decline of women’s political status. Patriarchy and misogyny followed.”

You can read obituaries for Leonard Shlain at Boing Boing and on his own web site. My condolences to his friends and family, may his spirit find rest and comfort.

If a journalist “outs” your religion to the wider world in the process of an investigation and you lose revenue because of it, is the journalist liable for your losses? A judge in Quebec thinks so, and has ordered Sun Media Corp. to pay 9000.00 dollars to two members of the Raelians.

“When newspaper reporter Brigitte McCann spent nine months undercover as a member of the Raelian sect in 2003, the resulting articles caused a stir in Quebec and won her the province’s top journalism prize. Her Journal de Montréal reports revealed a darker side of a group generally dismissed as UFO-believing clowns: Its leader believes he has been targeted for assassination by the CIA, he demands generous contributions from his 55,000 followers and his entourage includes “angels” prepared to die to protect him … The plaintiffs, whose names are withheld in the published judgment, both said they had suffered embarrassment and loss of revenue after being identified as senior figures close to sect leader Claude Vorilhon, who goes by the name Raël. Their photos, taken from a pamphlet distributed at a Raelian gathering, were published.”

Naturally the Raelian Movement hails this decision, though some journalists and lawyers are saying that this chills the exercise of free speech. However, the judge ruled that these individuals’ expectation of privacy had been violated because information about the sect was freely available, making an undercover infiltration excessive and unjustified. You can read an unofficial English translation of the court’s decision, here. This decision could have wide ramifications in Canada regarding the investigation and reporting on non-mainstream and minority faiths. After all, even loony UFO cultists deserve some expectation of privacy, don’t they?

As some of you know, I like to keep track of Pagan and witchcraft-related themes in the world of high fashion design. Well, another line of clothing has come to my attention that you may want to check out. An Allure article trumpets that goth is back in fashion (again) and mentions in passing a “Witches” line of clothing by Lauren Alexander and Gabby Applegate as part of the trend. So I tracked down some photos and exposition concerning the line at NOTCOT.

“Promising… “WITCHES” the new shadowy, supernatural, and chic collection from Lauren Alexander and Gabby Applegate. An incredible editorial presentation in vignette style to showcase the occult collection. Friday, the Thirteenth of March, Seven to Ten in the evening. Chateau Marmont, Bungalow 4”… fascinating part, not even the Dietch PR folks had seen the line before this evening… the designer’s description? “”This line is a modern take on Goth, Grunge, and Victorian dressing. The entire line is comprised of black lace, velvet, silk, and spandex. The collection includes everything from floor length velvet cloaks to lace cocktail dresses with rope details. The goal has been to combine all of these style elements to create something that we feel has been missing in our closets. This collection truly embodies the idea of a “modern witch”.”

The line is very occult-goth chic, do go check out the photos if that’s your bag.

Remember how we all rushed to embrace actress Cybill Shepherd for thanking “the Goddess” at an awards ceremony years ago? Well the FoxNews “Pop Tarts” column talks with Shepherd about Prop. 8, Obama, and her rather complex personal theology.

“I’m a Christian Pagan Buddhist Goddess worshiper, but I’m also a feminist. I think the ultimate glass ceiling is God, in another words, if we think God is a man, then we make man a God, and I studied and learned that there is a whole other history of the worshiping of the great mother,” she explained. “I really think that probably God is a woman, that helped me to break through that celestial glass ceiling.”

So she is a confirmed Goddess-worshiper, but in a Christian/Pagan/Buddhist sort of way. I suppose she has all her bases covered no matter what lies beyond this life.

Earlier this week Brownsville, Texas held an election for three seats on its City Commission, and if you believe local reverend and activist Alex Resendez, no withcraft or brujeria were involved in shaping the outcome.

“During Resendez’s April 28 invocation, candidates stood ready to address the standing-room-only crowd in the Brownsville Public Library. But after Resendez’s invocation, today’s election should be free of unknown, unwarranted and unwel-come intervention after he banished evil spirits from affecting the candidates and electoral contest. Resendez, a reverend and political activist, is different in his approach to politics. He believes that evil spirits are real in the world and wants to keep them out of the electoral process. He fervently believes in the democratic process … He also believes that witchcraft, or brujeria, has no place in elections and, just prior to the forum’s start, beseeched Christ during the invocation to banish any witchcraft attempts against the candidates and the election. “Si existe (it exists),” Resendez said Thursday of brujeria, in which one casts spells for a given out-come.”

Resendez also casts out demons as part of his ministry, but not from any of the candidates (so far). Of course we have no way of knowing if the reverend’s invocations were truly effective, perhaps they can poll any local witches or brujas living in the area? Were their spells thwarted? Did their preferred candidates lose? These are the kinds of things I want some follow-up on!

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

Tellus Mater, from the Ara Pacis Augustae.

“Different countries celebrate Mother’s Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins. One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March. The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.” – Wikipedia

Here in the United States, Mother’s Day was conceived by poet and social activist Julia Ward Howe. Her “Mother’s Day Proclamation” was a pacifist reaction to the Civil and Franco-Prussian wars. In it, Howe urges all women from around the world to meet and settle the differences of the world.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

For me, I think both themes are worthy to be celebrated this day. Have a happy and joy-filled Mother’s Day. Honor the mothers in your life, divine and mundane. Perhaps we can start working on that worldwide congress of women too.