The Iceland Review notes that the BBC was recently in the country to film a number of Asatru ceremonies.

“A documentary film crew from the BBC attended two weddings, two naming ceremonies and one coming-of-age ceremony undertaken by Asatruarfelagid, the pagan society in Iceland, which honors the Norse gods, at Thingvellir national park on Thursday.”

Sadly, we don’t know much else. Is it a documentary about Iceland? About religion? Paganism? This would have been a great time for a follow-up question or two. I suppose we’ll just have to scour BBC press releases until we find out. In the meantime, here’s a NextTV special on Asatru in Iceland.

If you think America has it bad right now then you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on in Iceland recently. Hit particularly hard by the global recession, the country went bankrupt a couple months ago, all their major banks have failed, and inflation is skyrocketing. As the country’s government scrambles to prevent a complete collapse, banks are trying to collect on debts that citizens can no longer pay, the result is a powder keg that threatens to turn the daily protests into all-out chaos. Bloomberg, reporting on the situation, interviews local protest leader Eva Hauksdottir, owner of a local Witchcraft shop.

“It was the week before Christmas in Reykjavik, and all through the town Eva Hauksdottir led a band of 60 whistle-blowing, pan-banging, shouting demonstrators. “Pay your own debts,” they yelled as they visited one bank office after another in Iceland’s capital. “Don’t make the children pay.” When she isn’t leading one of the almost daily acts of protest in this land devastated by the global financial meltdown, Hauksdottir sells good luck charms made from the claws of ptarmigans, a local bird, and voodoo dolls in the form of bankers. She says she expects to lose her home, worth less than when she bought it two years ago, after the amount she owes jumped more than 20 percent.”

Hauksdottir claims that only civil disobedience can now stem the tide of evictions and the collection of debts that people can no longer pay.

“We’ll use our voices, and then if we have to we’ll use our hands, and maybe axes.”

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to axes. In the meantime, you have to wonder if American Pagan and Witch shops are also starting to sell poppets of fiscal miscreants and whether they’ll be out in the streets leading protests when things get even worse.

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

Donna “Darkwolf” Vos will be meeting the South African Air Force in court over claims that they unfairly dismissed her from chaplaincy work due to her religion.

“I applied (for the SAAF job), got it and worked for two weeks. My focus was to be on HIV and Aids, the problem of Satanism among the youth, and drugs and sex among the youth,” Vos said. She was due to undergo training in military routines in Pretoria, but was first called to a meeting with the official, a colonel. “I was told the meeting with this guy was a formality.” He was initially impressed by her qualifications, Vos said. But the conversation soured when she told him she was a pagan. “He was quite taken aback…I gave him a copy of my book (a guide to paganism in a South African context) and he said, ‘We can’t unleash you on 8 000 men’.” The colonel stopped their interview, Vos said, and promised to contact her within two weeks. But instead of phoning her, she said he sent her an e-mail in which he described paganism as ‘a cult’.”

Vos is hoping her complaint will force the South African military to change their “unconstitutional religious policies”, making it safe for Pagans in the military to be open about their faith. However, one strange twist in the case is that it happened in 2003, she didn’t file her complaint until 2006, and then “left the matter dormant” until 2008 according to the Bellville Equality Court. In fact, the current trial is to see if the Equality Court even has jurisdiction to hear this case, so it remains to be seen if things progress in Vos’s favor.

Art critic Jonathan Jones wonders if today’s spandex-wearing superheroes are equivalent to the gods and heroes of ancient myth.

“Is there any difference between the modern pantheon of superheroes and the myths of the Greeks or the Vikings? The sheer richness and resonance we find in these fabulous beings – the darkness of Batman, the sensitivity of Spiderman, the purity of Superman – resembles the richness of interpretation and portrayal that has made the Greek myths survive into modern times … The point is, these modern myths do resemble true myths – they have taken on the endurance of the great legends, they rival Robin Hood and King Arthur. What does this say about modern culture? Probably that it is far more in touch with its ancient, primal roots that either fans or detractors of modernity tend to admit.”

The “superheroes = gods of ancient myth” meme isn’t a new one. Artists and writers have been mining this territory for some time now. It is an idea that first gestated in the mind of Kirby and subsequently explored by modern comic-writers like Morrison and Moore. The question now is what does that mean? Should we approach these pop-culture figures as distinct entities of power, or see them as the result of a natural polytheism denied? Perhaps both?

To reiterate something I have said before: Witchcraft isn’t a warning sign! Sadly, a glowing piece on Florida’s early-intervention youth centers uncritically peddles the “alternative religion as mental health warning sign” meme.

“The Cookseys’ relationship with Amanda had deteriorated in the two years since they had adopted her at 15. (Her birth mother, already struggling, sustained a brain injury and could not provide adequate care.) The girl was defiant, lying and even dabbling in witchcraft, Ms. Cooksey said. After their fight in February, Amanda ran back to her biological mother’s house. The policeman who picked her up said he could take her home to the Cookseys or to the Capital City shelter.”

This is dangerous. Involvement in Wicca, Paganism, or some other non-Christian faith, shouldn’t be a check-box on some list of bad behavior. For someone who is truly troubled, clinging to Witchcraft or Paganism might be the only empowering thing in an otherwise unmoored life. For older foster kids, their religious individuality could be quashed or seen as illness/bad behavior if they are placed with a Christian household (and the chances of that are quite high). Will we end up with social services that promise stability for troubled youth only so long as they toe a certain religious line?

It looks like the Rev. Rapid Cabot Freeman’s fifteen minutes haven’t quite run out yet. The local Norwich Bulletin seems quite intent on following Freeman after his discrimination claims were marred by his being arrested for harassment.

“Rusty Freeman, also known as the Rev. Rapid Cabot Freeman and the “Witch of Baltic,” entered a not guilty plea Wednesday to a second-degree harassment charge in Norwich Superior Court. Freemen, a Wiccan who hosts a public access show, gained attention recently when he accused the town of Sprague of religious discrimination when he was denied use of a public building to hold a witchcraft demonstration on Halloween. Town officials said they rejected the request based on procedural problems. His arrest by Norwich police was based on allegations that he made repeated unwanted calls to a Norwich woman this summer, according to an arrest warrant affidavit in the case. Freeman told police he was trying to contact the woman to attend his divorce proceedings.”

The drama continues in court on December 31st, bring popcorn.

In a final note, Asatru in Iceland celebrated their country’s sovereignty on Monday by honoring the land’s protective spirits.

“Members of AsatrUarfelagid, a religious association which honors the old Norse gods, celebrated Iceland’s Sovereignty Day on Monday by honoring the country’s protective spirits, the landvaettir as described in Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla. According to Heimskringla, the landvaettir thwart a sorcerer disguised as a whale from swimming ashore and thus prevent him from spying on the Icelandic people for the Danish king. During the ceremony, high chieftain of AsatrUarfelagid Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson said these guardian spirits are still protecting the Icelandic country and nation…”

The ceremony took place in five ritually significant points in the country, one of which burned a picture Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde. The story doesn’t say if this was a measure of protection, or one of antagonism against the politician. Considering the recent fiscal woes there, I can’t think it’s a good sign.

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

John Carlin of The Guardian looks at why Iceland is the happiest place on Earth.

“Iceland … tops the latest table of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Index rankings, meaning that as a society and as an economy – in terms of wealth, health and education – they are champions of the world. To which one might respond: Yes, but – what with the dark winters and the far from tropical summers – are Icelanders happy? Actually, in so far as one can reliably measure such things, they are. According to a seemingly serious academic study reported in the Guardian in 2006, Icelanders are the happiest people on earth. (The study was lent some credibility by the finding that the Russians were the most unhappy.)”

The secret to their happiness? According to Carlin, a big part of it is their lack of connection to Christian ideas of morality, and a deep connection to their Viking and pagan ancestors.

“As a grandmother I met on my first visit to Iceland, two years ago, explained it: ‘The Vikings went abroad and the women ran the show, and they had children with their slaves, and when the Vikings returned they accepted it, in the spirit of the more the merrier’ … It is a largely pagan country, as the natives like to see it, unburdened by the taboos that generate so much distress elsewhere. That means they are practical people.”

Indeed, from reading Carlin’s take, Iceland sounds like a paradise for the Pagan spirit. A land that incorporates a deep respect for women, industriousness, a focus on family and community, a robust social safety net, a healthy capitalistic economy, and a sense of social justice that bypasses the backwards-looking morality that often marginalizes outsider groups and derails progress. For instance, while the culture warriors in America are sharpening their knives after California approved gay marriage, homosexual couples in Iceland have enjoyed the same benefits as married heterosexual couples since 1996, which was expanded in 2006 to include protections for adoption and artificial insemination.

As for full-blown religious Paganism, Iceland has that too. It was the first Scandinavian country to give legal recognition to Asatru (1973), and is home to famous Heathens like Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson, a musician and producer who has worked with artists like Bjork and Sigur Ros, and serves as Chief Godi of the Icelandic Asatru Association.

So when we muse about what a “post-Christian” future will look like, perhaps we should turn to the Scandinavian countries like Iceland, where such a reality exists and thrives. It could be that the best of what a “pagan” future holds has been here for generations, waiting for the rest of us to notice.

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

Remember the Episcopagan scandals? Well, the main player in that drama, former Episcopalian priest turned Druid Walter William Melnyk, is releasing a new novel co-written with with Druid priestess Emma Restall Orr entitled “The Apple and The Thorn”.

“The Apple and The Thorn is a love story set on the mythical Isle of Avalon at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain. The novel draws on the persistent myths of the Lady of the Lake; legends of Jesus’ visit to Glastonbury with Joseph of Arimathea; the Holy Grail and the Chalice Well. Although set in ancient times, it is a heart-rending tale of power and belief, a contemporary reminder of the emotional and physical conflicts that surface when the missionary zeal of one faith threatens to destroy the beauty and spirituality of indigenous culture and suppress freedom of belief and worship.”

If the Lady of the Lake and Joseph of Arimathea debating over the true nature of Jesus (and the resulting Christian religion) is your kind of thing, no doubt you’ll be well-pleased with what Melnyk and Orr have produced. The book is out now in the UK, and is scheduled for a May release in the US.

The Lansing State Journal reports that Baby-Boom religious seekers will most likely remain seekers once they hit retirement.

“He said that, as boomers age, as they become grandparents, they seem to be ‘moving into that phase that humanistic psychologists have talked about of thinking about what they give back, not just what they get,’ he said, ‘what they give back to family, community and country.’ The question for religious institutions is whether they can provide the settings for that search for meaning. ‘Organized religion has been reaching out to try to create venues for this kind of thing,’ Roof said. ‘But I think the baby-boom generation still feels free to find truth wherever they can.’”

So don’t worry, it doesn’t appear that Starhawk will be converting to Orthodox Judaism (or Isaac Bonewits to Catholicism) any time soon. I, for one, welcome our less-self-centered Boomer overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted blogging personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves to engage in compassionate missions of goodness.

Speaking of Starhawk, she weighs in on the subject of diversity, pluralism, and the “Christmas Wars” at the Washington Post “On Faith” blog.

“I don’t think we’re being too ‘politically correct’ to hold to the guiding principles that our Constitution is founded upon. As someone who was raised Jewish and who is a practicing Pagan, I support Christmas. I think it’s a beautiful holiday, a wonderful celebration of birth and hope in the midst of the dark of winter. I support Christ being the ’star of the show’ in every Christian Church and Christian home. I sympathize deeply with my Christian and secular friends who are struggling to keep the holiday from devolving into CommercialMass or Giftmas and to focus on its deeper meaning. I do not support Christ being the star of the show in public celebrations – not unless he’s willing to share the stage with Lugh the Sun God and Saule the Sun Goddess, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, Judah Macabee and a host of others. Even then, either someone gets left out or every celebration becomes an interminable endurance test. And how do atheists get equal time?”

While Americans battle over how much Baby Jesus gets to happen in public, Iceland has no problems connecting the Yule-tide dots between Christian and pagan practice.

“Head Folklorist at the University of Iceland Terry Gunnell will give a presentation in English today and again on December 22 at the National Museum of Iceland, located in Reykjavik, about the traditional Icelandic Yule. The presentation is entitled ‘The Icelandic Yule. An illustrated presentation in English reviewing the beliefs and traditions of Icelandic Christmas past and present, from pagan gods to practical joking Christmas Lads.’”

Between this and the joint Pagan-Christian celebrations in Lithuania, you gotta wonder if Europe isn’t on to something here. But if tolerance and peaceful co-celebration isn’t an option, you can always file a restraining order on the cause(s) of this whole mess.

“Paranormal Restraining Orders Keep them away! Since the dawn of time, mankind has sought the means of keeping away supernatural and paranormal entities. Now, for only $5 each, receive a printed document that bars them from approaching or contacting you.”

They really need to broaden their options, there are all sorts of celestial powers I want to keep a safe distance from me.

The Smart Set’s Emily Maloney visits a Body, Mind, and Spirit Expo so you don’t have to.

“The whole expo felt like a bad shopping trip where shoppers and sellers were all piecing together a mix and match vision of reality. I also found listening to people who were capable of distorting their cognition in such whimsical ways nearly impossible to understand. I mean, if I could get in touch with the Devic Kingdom, wherever that is, I could definitely use a fat, chipper gnome to remind me of my grocery list, or help me find overdue library books, or drive when I got too drunk (if that’s not asking too much to ask of a gnome), but I just don’t know how to go playfully crazy in the direction of woodland fairies and jolly gnomes.”

I completely empathize with the mental block (which I playfully call “sanity”) that doesn’t allow me the full range of spiritual experiences some of my more “out there” co-religionists seem to regularly engage in. Then again, if it got me a gnome-housekeeper, perhaps I should try harder.

In a final (fae) note, Bookslut lets us know that there is a new English translation out of the classic Irish epic “The Tain”.

“It’s all quite fantastic, but in Carson’s version never preposterous. In part, that’s because he’s such a skilled translator. Carson has done deft poetic justice to book-length works by Dante and the 18th century Irish poet Brian Merriman. This “Tain” also benefits from the fact that, among the formidable group of poets to emerge from Ulster over the last few decades, Carson has remained closest to the roots of that troubled province’s traditions. He is the author of two fine books on traditional music, and this translation is dedicated to a traditional Gaelic storyteller. Because he is a fine poet and — in that Yeatsian sense — “a rooted man,” Carson’s translation teases from “The Tain” several of the things that make it so remarkable: First and foremost among them is the fact that — unlike, say, the Iliad — the characters in “The Tain” don’t stand as archetypes. They’re real people — conflicted, complex, alternately admirable and reprehensible, capable of courtesy and deceit, generosity and cunning. Cu Chulainn is a superhero and a vain adolescent, a warrior sometimes thrust into mourning by his own skill. He, like other characters in this “Tain,” is also very funny.”

You can find the new translation, here.

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

Icelandic superstar Bjork has released the cover art for her new album “Volta” (to be released on May 8th), and discusses its colorful imagery with Pitchfork Media.

The cover to Bjork’s new album “Volta”

In addition, Bjork says that she is tapping into a “shaman sort of voodoo thing” on tracks like “Earth Intruders” (the first advance single from the album), and talks about the photo shoot that lead to the cover image.

“It was a magical atmosphere in the photo shoot. It was kind of fun, because it wasn’t about me, it was about this sort of spirit of – like a woman who is kind of…into rave, no I’m just kidding. Like, a sort of celebration of that ancient, but at the same time kind of neon.”

This further cements the pagan-friendly stance that Bjork has been exhibiting for some time now. I can’t wait to hear the finished product. You’ll most likely be hearing tracks from “Volta” on my Pagan music show once I get my hands on a copy.

In related news, the amazing documentary looking at Icelandic music “Screaming Masterpiece” was released domestically last month. It features Bjork and several amazing pagan-friendly musicians, including the Sigur Ros masterpiece “Odin’s Raven Magic” (featuring rimur-singer Steindor Andersen and Icelandic Chief Godi Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson). Definitely worth checking out.

Two quick news stories of European origin to convey. First off, Greek Pagans (who were recently given the right to officially exist in Greece) are pressing for access to the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

“A tiny group of worshipers plans a rare ceremony Sunday to honor the ancient Greek gods, at Athens’ 1,800-year-old Temple of Olympian Zeus. Greece’s Culture Ministry has declared the central Athens site off-limits, but worshipers say they will defy the decision. “These are our temples and they should be used by followers of our religion,” said Doreta Peppa, head of the Athens-based Ellinais, a group campaigning to revive the ancient religion.”

The article also notes an idealogical split within the Greek Pagan community.

“Those who seek to revive the ancient Greek religion are split into rival organizations which trade insults over the Internet. Peppa’s group is at odds with ultra-nationalists who view a revival as a way to protect Greek identity from foreign influences. They can’t even agree on a name for the religion: One camp calls it Ancient-Religion, another Hellenic Religion.”

It would be interesting to hear more about this split, in some ways it mirrors similar splits within Asatru. Ellinais plans to push to register their offices as a place of worship so that they can perform official ceremonies like weddings.

Meanwhile in Iceland, there is controversy brewing over who is included in a traditional Winter festival.

“A house wife and anthropology student who lives in Bolungarvik in Iceland’s Westfjords publicly criticized her town’s winter feast traditions of Thorrablot this week. The feast takes place tonight. Only married or legally registered couples, widows and widowers are welcome to the feast, excluding singles and divorcees. The tradition was established decades ago, originally due to lack of space in the community center where the feast is held.”

The feast is thought to be a hold-over from pagan times and includes some eye-opening traditions.

“Thorrablot (”winter sacrifice”) is traditionally celebrated around Iceland and among Icelandic communities abroad at the beginning of the month Thorri, which begins on a Friday between January 19 and 25 and ends on a Saturday between February 18 and 24 according to the old Icelandic calendar. This midwinter feast is a pagan tradition that survived Christianity and is an occasion for eating old-fashioned food, such as pickled ram testicles and rotten shark, and for drinking to excess.”

Rotten shark and binge-drinking? I can’t see any potential problems there! There is no word if the Bolungarvik city council is considering changing the rules to allow singles into the festival. Though it does seem unusual for a festival to exclude singles, aren’t traditional festivals supposed to encourage the finding of a partner?