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

Charles Arthur Roberts, who is serving five years in prison for aggravated assault, is suing the Texas prison system for preventing him from practicing Wicca while incarcerated.

“Roberts alleges in a pro se lawsuit that he made repeated requests practice Wicca to the chaplain and administrators at TDCJ’s Lopez Unit off El Cibolo Road in Edinburg … The 28-year-old Brownsville native claims that prison administrators allow Catholic, Protestant and Moslem services but will not allow him to practice his Wiccan faith. Roberts wrote in his lawsuit that administrators told him they needed a Wiccan volunteer to hold a service for him but that they never attempted to obtain a volunteer. The jailed Wiccan claims he even tried to contact administrators at a state level but never received a reply. “I have been dealing with the defendants for a year to get things for my religion but they have not tried to get anything started, which is a violation of my Constitutional rights,” Roberts wrote in his lawsuit.”

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice won’t comment on the case, but did reveal that three inmates and an outside volunteer are required before they will allow scheduled sessions. If Roberts could not meet the three-inmate threshold, the case could be dismissed if he can’t also prove prison officials blocked attempts to find an outside volunteer or acquire Wiccan religious materials. While many jail-house lawsuits can be frivolous, we shouldn’t forget that according to Pagan chaplain Patrick McCollum there is “endemic” discrimination against incarcerated religious minorities.

The Maine Family Policy Council, formerly known as the Christian Civic League of Maine, are back to spreading lies about Rita Moran, Chair of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, who was one of two openly Pagan delegates at the Democratic National Convention. Not content with first outing her as a Pagan and then stalking her, they are now trying to play the victim by misquoting an interview she did with a Pagan podcast back in 2007.

“In a recently discovered podcast, Rita Moran, Chairwoman of the Kennebec County Democrats, claims she cast a spell on the Administrator of the Christian Civic League, Mike Hein, in response to her outing by the League as a practitioner of the occult … In the podcast, Moran presents herself as a practitioner of an “earth-based” religion, but states she does not wear a pentacle, for the sake of ‘plausible deniability.’ If asked, she tells people she is a practitioner of an ‘earth-based’ religion. During the interview, Moran also expresses a desire to form a national “Pagan Caucus” within the Democratic Party, so that the Democrat Party and paganism can come together in a “positive way.” When asked if Mike Hein suffered any backlash from her outing, she replied that she is certain that there was an occult backlash, based on her casting of an “earth spell” on Hein.”

I happened to have listened to the podcast in question (mp3 link), from the now-defunct Lance and Graal show, and it clearly says that she cast a “mirror” spell (not an “earth” spell, whatever that means). In other words, the only malefic thing Mike Hein may have received spiritually is what he was already dishing out against Moran. It is truly sad that some supposedly moral Christians feel the need to lie, break laws, and harass innocent people to feel superior. One has to wonder if Focus on the Family knows what sort of things this “affiliated” group gets up to in the name of Christ.

Warning! Some minor True Blood second-season spoilers follow! Do you watch the HBO vampire series True Blood? If not, you’re apparently missing out on some hot-and-heavy pagan themes in addition to all the vampire-lovin’ that’s already going on. A character introduced in the current (second) season, Maryann, was revealed to be a maenad, and some Pagans are seriously unhappy with the way things are being portrayed.

“…they could have called her a Maenad and been done with it – I wouldn’t have been thrilled with that, but I expected it. They went WAY too far with this, IMO. They have to bring in Lilith, Isis, Gaia, the Horned God AND Dionysus? To abuse the name of Isis, the favorite name of the Goddess, in that way was particularly offensive to me. The Christian devil imagery is so predictable and cliche – you may be right, the writers need to do some research.”

I’ve heard similar rumblings from other Pagans as well, but I’ll reserve personal judgement for after the season closes, and I’ve seen the episodes. However, if you aren’t spoiler-averse and want a taste of the way things are going, check out this recap of episode ten for some of the Dionysian mayhem currently on display.

Reuters covers the festival of Lurol in Tibet, a time that displays the syncretic mix between Tibetan Buddhism and the animist/shamanic Bon faith.

Dressed in special clothes, his long hair carefully cut and braided, Damtsengbon waits for his spirit, Amyesrmachen, the most sacred mountain god in the region. Other villagers call the spirit’s name while Damtsengbon, who like many Tibetans only goes by one name, enters a trance, twitching and jerking. “I am the third generation to channel this god, so it is not just about me. For three generations the god has manifested himself through us, and even living Buddhas recognize this … I think it’s a way for me to serve my people. It keeps us together and protects us, so it’s an honor to serve them.”

I recommend reading the entirety of this fascinating look into Tibetan religion and culture.

In a final note, be sure and check out presentations from friends-of-this-blog John W. Morehead and Chas Clifton at the recently-held 2009 CENSUR conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Chas Clifton’s presentation, “In the Mists of Avalon: How Contemporary Paganism Dodges the ‘Crisis of History’”, is particularly interesting for those wondering why Wicca and modern Paganism didn’t collapse with the advent of better scholarship.

“Contemplating the crisis—or crises—of history as they affect contemporary Paganism, the Wiccan journalist Margot Alder comments,  “Traditionally, religions with indefensible histories and dogmas cling to them tenaciously. The Craft avoided this through the realization, often unconscious, that its real sources lie in the mind, in art, in creative work.”[31] By relying on the fictive power of books and other creative products to provide a sort of sacred story, the contemporary Pagans described thus step out of history while retaining a modern respect for the historian’s scholarship and thus postponing a collision between historical narrative and mythic past.”

For those interested in the study of new religious movements, you should check out all the “cyberproceedings” available online.

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

There are times when you just can’t get to the computer for several hours per day to blog, one of those is when you’re trying to pack and engage in a cross-country move. This week I’ll be pulling up stakes and moving from the Midwest (Milwaukee) to the Pacific Northwest (specifically, Eugene, Oregon). But don’t despair! While I’ll be driving through Montana with my wife and two cats (two, upset, angry, cats), The Wild Hunt will be featuring a wide assortment of vibrant, challenging, and innovative voices from within (and occasionally from without) modern Paganism while I’m gone. Here’s the run-down of The Wild Hunt’s amazing guest bloggers!

July 14th – Brendan Myers

Dr. Brendan Myers, Ph.D. is the author of several critically acclaimed books on the subject of ethics and philosophy, environmentalism, Celtic and European mythology, folklore, society and politics, and spirituality. They have been used as inspirational and educational resources by college professors, social activist groups, interfaith groups, Celtic cultural associations, and even humanist societies, in many countries around the world. Brendan’s work has appeared in numerous magazines, podcasts, and radio shows (including America’s NPR). He is the 2008 recipient of OBOD’s prestigious Mt. Haemus Award for recent research in Druidry.

July 15th – Elysia Gallo

Elysia Gallo is an Acquisitions Editor at Llewellyn Worldwide, the oldest and largest independent New Age publisher in the United States. She acquires books for publication in such topics as Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, magic(k), herbalism, and the paranormal. She lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband and two cats.

July 16th – Cat Chapin-Bishop

Wiccan since the late ’80s, Cat Chapin-Bishop has also been Quaker since 2001. Cat’s essays have appeared in Laura Wildman’s “Celebrating the Pagan Soul”, “The Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies”, the Covenant of the Goddess newsletter, and “Enchante: The Journal for the Urbane Pagan”. In addition to her work as a Wiccan HPs, Cat is the former Chair of Cherry Hill Seminary’s Pastoral Counseling Department, and she currently serves on the Ministry and Worship Committee of Mt. Toby Quaker meeting. Cat and her husband maintain Quaker Pagan Reflections, a blog dedicated to exploring the connections between Pagan spirituality and Quaker practice. They reside in Northampton, Massachusetts, where they attempt to live peacefully in the midst of chaos.

July 17th – Lupa

Lupa is the author of “Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone: A Primal Guide to Animal Magic” and “A Field Guide to Otherkin”. She’s also the co-author of “Kink Magic: Sex Magic Beyond Vanilla” with Taylor Ellwood, and a contributor to the “Magick on the Edge” anthology and “Manifesting Prosperity: A Wealth Magic Anthology”. Additionally, Lupa works as an associate editor, layout tech, and nonfiction publicity/promotions manager for Immanion Press/Megalithica Books. Lupa uses the term pagan for simplicity’s sake, though more accurately she describes herself as a totemist, an animist and a pantheist. She has been studying pagan religions and magical topics for twelve years and practicing for ten years. Currently she is developing and training in therioshamanism.

July 18th – John Morehead

John Morehead is a researcher, writer, and speaker in intercultural studies, new religious movements, theology and popular culture. He has an M.A. degree in intercultural studies from Salt Lake Theological Seminary which included a thesis on Burning Man Festival. He also has an avid interest in aspects of pop culture, particularly myth and archetype as well as the social, cultural and religious dimensions of fantasy, sci fi,and horror. John lives in the greater Salt Lake City area with his wife and two children. Be sure to check out his excellent TheoFantastique blog!

July 19th - Caroline Kenner

A longtime Washington D.C. activist in in feminism and environmentalism, Caroline Kenner now uses her skills to advocate for modern Pagans. In 2006 and 2007 Kenner called pan-Pagan rallies in Washington D.C. to demand religious freedom and equality. The 2007 rally was particularly auspicious as it celebrated the recently-won right to place the Pentacle, equivalent to the Cross, Star, or Crescent, on military grave markers. The event united several large Pagan organizations working to establish Pagan military chaplains and the approval of other specific Pagan symbols worn by Pagan and Heathen veterans. In addition to her activism, Caroline is a graduate of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies‘ Three Year Program in Advanced Shamanism and Shamanic Healing. Caroline also holds an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College and a M.S. from Boston University. She has practiced shamanism since 1989.

July 20th - Chas Clifton

Chas S. Clifton has been blogging since 2003, when he converted his Pagan magazine column, “Letter from Hardscrabble Creek,” into a blog. A widely published Pagan writer, he is the author of “Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America”. He also edits “The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies”.

July 21st – James R. French

James R. French has been interested in Magick and Paganism since adolescence. He is an Adept of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn and a Reiki Master. (Mr. French wants us to understand that “Adept” and “Master” are titles within these respective lineages. They do not necessarily indicate anything beyond that.)

July 22nd – Thorn Coyle

T. Thorn Coyle is a magic worker, mystic, musician, and author of “Evolutionary Witchcraft” and “Kissing the Limitless.” She teaches internationally. Her blog can be found at yezida.livejournal.com or http://www.thorncoyle.com/musings.html.

July 23rd – Sannion

H. Jeremiah Lewis, also known by his religious name Sannion, is a Greco-Egyptian polytheist who has been actively honoring the gods since around 1993. He has lived all over the country, including Alaska, Nevada, New York, Montana, Washington and Oregon (where he currently resides), and has worked the standard assortment of odd jobs that every aspiring author needs to get by with. Mr. Lewis divides his time between an insanely intense religious practice, writing, research, helping to organize the activities of Neos Alexandria, and directing the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. There isn’t much time for anything else.

July 24th – Peg Aloi

Peg Aloi is a Pagan and a scholar who works in both the academic and popular arenas. She is a writer on Paganism and the media for Witchvox, is the co-editor with Hanna E. Johnston of the new volume “The New Generation Witches: Teenage Witchcraft in Contemporary Culture” (Ashgate, 2007), and is currently co-authoring a book with Hannah titled “The Celluloid Bough: Cinema in the Wake of the Occult Revival”.

Please give all of them a warm and hospitable welcome, I’m certain they will all contribute something special to The Wild Hunt. The gods and my new DSL service willing, I should be back to my regular posting schedule by July 25th. Make sure to keep things respectful and polite in the comments while I’m gone, the assorted hells hath no fury like a vacationing blogger who has to log in to a WiFi spot in Idaho to engage in some blog moderation.

John Morehead’s Theofantastique blog (one of the best blogs out there concerning the intersections of religion, film, and horror) interviews Carrol L. Fry, author of “Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca, and Spiritualism in Film”, about her new book and how the “occult” (both faiths and practice) are portrayed in cinema.

“Movies about the occult are, well, movies after all and are made for profit not education. The occult is by its nature sensational and sensationalism sells. Filmmakers have target audiences, but they want to reach a broad spectrum of customers. And you have to remember that a lot of films that adapt occult paths are part of the horror genre, and that audience demands sensationalism. So even those Wiccan films that give a favorable spin to the Old Religion might well offend not only Wiccans but conservative Christians, the former because they don’t accurately reflect their beliefs and practices and the latter because they are made at all. I think the one Neo-Pagan film that most Pagans I’ve met would, and do, enjoy is The Wicker Man. This is ironic because director­­­ Robin Hardy and script writer Anthony Shaffer intended it to be a warning against occult practices as leading to cults. As I say in my book, those Wiccan films that reflect negatively on the Old Religion, B movies such as Silent Night Deadly Night IV: the Initiation or Suspiria are unrelentingly sexist and even misogynist and reflect on the challenge to male authority that feminist Wicca presents for some people.”

I recommend reading the whole thing, though I disagree with her analysis of “The Wicker Man”. From the interviews I’ve read, it always seemed to be more a cautionary tale concerning religious extremism from all angles than simply a warning against occultism in particular. While you’re there, you might also want to read Morehead’s post on geeks inherting the earth.

Slate.com explains the six types of white supremacist groups outlined by the Department of Homeland Security report, titled “Domestic Extremism Lexicon“. One of those six types is “Nordic mysticism” and they manage to give a summary while generally avoiding tarring all modern Norse and Germanic-based Pagan groups with a racist brush.

“Neo-Nordic paganism appeared in the United States in the 1970s and ’80s as part of a larger trend of pagan religions, like Wicca and Druidism. The racist offshoot of this religious movement is referred to as either Odinism or Wotanism—Odin and Wotan being different names for the chief Norse god. (David Lane, a leading white nationalist, preferred Wotanism because it contained the acronym WOTAN, or “Will of the Aryan Nation.”) White supremacists were drawn to the faith both because it represents an “authentically” white religion—as opposed to Christianity, which has its roots in the Middle East—and because of its emphasis on warrior culture.”

While the terminology is a bit off at times, Nina Shen Rastogi seems to have avoided the blanket statements (particularly concerning Pagan iconography and symbols) that have spurred Pagan criticism of some anti-defamation groups in the past. You can read more about this report at The Daily Beast.

In a final note, the St. Petersburg Times’ Andrew Meacham provides a moving obiturary for Lady Urania (aka Lois Ann Paris), a local Pagan community leader and part-owner of the Stone Circle Products in Florida.

“Before she became Lady Urania, Ms. Paris was a Catholic Sunday school teacher who worked for a Baltimore phone company. But she found the religion too authoritarian and began to study Wicca, or witchcraft. Ms. Paris was a short woman with a full voice, especially when delivering her opinion, which she did freely. A redhead with an attitude, her daughter-in-law said. After moving to Port Richey in 1991 with her husband, George, she blended in quickly with local Wiccans, the women and men who practice what they call an earth religion. The Wiccans say they keep a low profile because they fear discrimination and harassment. Lady Urania became part owner of the Stone Circle, a retail store where she sold books, crystals and candles and gave tarot readings.”

Lady Urania was 74. You can also read an announcement of her passing at Witchvox. May she rest in the Summerlands and return to us once again.

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

Over at the Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog, panelist and Reclaiming co-founder Starhawk answers the question of whether we are our “brother’s keeper” economically speaking (in short asking if the fiscally “responsible” should help out the “irresponsible”). In her response, Starhawk wisely takes aim at the limiting binary of responsible/irresponsible when discussing the current economic crisis.

“Let’s not be too quick to judge other peoples’ irresponsibility. I don’t particularly want my tax dollars to bail out the overpaid CEOs and financial manipulators who got us into this mess. But I do believe we need to extend a hand to help people stay in their homes, renegotiate their mortgages, and find new jobs. The core teaching of Goddess traditions is simply this: we are all interconnected and interdependent. If we recognize that truth, if we acknowledge that we must all pull together, we can steer through even the heaviest rapids. But if we start pushing people off the raft and fighting over the oars, we will all go under, responsible and irresponsible alike.”

For other non-Judeo-Christian takes on the issue of responsibility in our current fiscal meltdown, check out the responses from Deepak Chopra and Susan Jacoby as well.

The Reuter’s FaithWorld blog covers Carnival celebrations in Bolivia, but while reporter Fiona Ortiz is awed by the sheer spectacle of the main events, she is even more impressed by the pervasive and simple offerings to the earth goddess Pachamama.

“Driving through the Andes, I saw Bolivians on streets, in the fields, and in the patios of their houses, getting together for ch’alla rituals, making offerings to the Pachamama and blessing their cars. Apparently Bolivians do ch’alla often when they drink — spilling or flicking alcohol onto the ground — but the practice becomes a full-blown ceremony on special days, such as at the end of Carnival, just before Lent begins.”

I don’t know about you, but the simplicity and pervasive integrated nature of their offerings says so much about the appeal of indigenous and polytheistic worship. Simple, direct, and rooted in everyday experience. Ortiz also notes that she saw many “Westernized” Bolivians partaking in offerings to Pachamama, and wonders if this is a result of Bolivian president Evo Morales’ government re-writing the country’s consititution to guarantee freedom of religion and removing Catholicism as the sole recognized faith.

Over at her Driving Audhumla blog, Pagan journalist Victoria Slind-Flor reports back from a gathering of the goddess group Gaia’s Womb in Racine, Wisconsin. What’s particularly interesting and noteworthy here is that the gathering was held at the motherhouse of the Racine Dominicans.

“The retreat was at the motherhouse of the Racine Dominicans, on the shore of Lake Michigan, just south of Milwaukee. As the number of vocations has declined, the community has turned to other ministries, one of which is making a large part of their home available for retreat groups … The Dominicans could not have been more hospitable, even when we did a ritual with loud drumming, chanted our way through the hallways and even some of us showed up at meals wearing the crowns created in my workshop … And all the nuns with whom I spoke talked about loving the energy we brought to the motherhouse.”

Remember my recent post about what might happen as religion becomes more female-dominated? Is the future when Catholic nuns and goddess-worshipers can peacefully commune in the same space already arrived?

In the UK, a Grantown Baptist Church is concerned about an year-long and escalating series of hostile notes, and more recently a dead rabbit, that they claim are “pagan” in nature. Many of the notes are apparantly marked with the “all-seeing eye” (or Eye of Providene) commonly used in a variety of fraternal orders and esoteric groups.

“There have been a series of pagan-style notes over the past year,” said Mr Fishwick, who has been deacon of the church for the past 20 years … “It seems to be the work of a bit of a crackpot. They only ever pick out our church; none of the others have had this, but we don’t know why. “The notes are heathen quotations: things like ‘Your days are numbered’, ‘Wrongs remain unrectified’ and ‘Judgement has been passed’.”

Seems to me to be the work of someone with a personal grudge, and not some sort of deranged Mason or cultist. If the police are looking for leads they should start with the membership roles.

In a final note, missional Christian blogger John Morehead interviews Terry Muck and Frances Adeney, authors of the book “Christianity Encountering World Religions: The Practice of Mission in the Twenty-first Century” about doing mission-work to various World religions when traditional evangelistic tactics have reached a standstill. At the end of the piece, Morehead asks for advice on how to approach modern Pagans resistant to the notion of “gospel as gift”.

“Terry Muck: Our offer of gifts will not always be accepted. Our motives will always be challenged by some. That shouldn’t stop us from doing what Christ commands, though, giving the gift of the gospel to any and all. Also, it may that there are ways to give in the context of Neo-Pagaism that we haven’t discovered; gospel gift-giving must always be contextualized so as much as possible cultural inhibitors are avoided and cultural opportunities are taken advantage of. Frances Adeney: Yes. A few years ago, one of the students in my evangelism class became quite involved with Pagans in the Louisville area. As she got to know individuals in the group she repeatedly heard from them that she was the only Christian they had ever met who listened to them and really cared about their beliefs and practices. That’s a good place to start.”

I’ve debated before with Christians about notions of proper “contextualization” in relaying the gospel to modern Pagans. In fact, I brought it up in my own interview experience with John Morehead.

“…stop thinking that we haven’t embraced the gospel because it hasn’t been “contextualized” properly to our community. Most of us are extremely well-read and have had numerous experiences (both positive and negative) with the Christian tradition, we understand the gospel message, we just happen to reject it as an exclusive truth (which according to recent Pew data is a growing attitude).”

The truth is that there is only so much narrative leeway in transmitting the gospel story. Too much change and it’s no longer recognizable as Christianity. Plus, once “Christianized”, those converts are then expected to be subject to the same theological limitations and moralities as the rest of the “flock”. No amount of metaphorical backflips will make a committed and content Pagan polytheist suddenly switch to a dominant (and patriarchal) monotheism.

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

My recent post on skepticism and pessimism regarding Pagan-Christian dialogue has spurred some thoughtful responses from Pagan and Christian bloggers. First, Erynn Rowan Laurie (author of “Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom”) says that a certain amount of skepticism is only natural in exchanges between Christians and Pagans.

“…an underlying theme of much specifically Christian-Pagan dialogue is a general Christian desire to spread the faith. I know a lot of Christians and they’re good folks and they don’t give me any trouble about being Pagan nor do they try to convert me. But the fact remains that motives in Christian interfaith dialogue often tend to boil down to learning about other faiths so that arguments can be prepared for use in attempts at conversion … Given this attitude, I think it’s only natural and right that Pagans should approach such dialogue with a certain amount of skepticism and even cynicism. I am by no means saying that we should not have these discussions. I do think they’re vitally necessary in reducing inter-religious tensions and fostering understandings between communities. Yet I believe we need to go into these discussions with our eyes open, understanding that there are some very likely ulterior motives in many who would engage with us.”

Meanwhile John Morehead, editor of the book “Beyond the Burning Times: A Pagan and Christian in Dialogue”, weighs in with his own thoughts on the issue and disagrees with the notion that Christians don’t “get” modern Paganism.

“I respectfully disagree with the sentiments expressed by Chas Clifton in his comments on Strange Onion Peeling. There are Christians who are making a good effort at understanding Paganism, including the aspects he specifically mentions. Therefore, we do “get it,” even though we have a long way to go in our understanding. And we are not attempting to understand just enough of Paganism to combine it with a nicer approach in order to convert people. Yes, we feel an obligation to be obedient to Jesus’ command to “make disciples,” and in so doing share the pathway of Jesus when it is appropriate and desired, but we do not view people as mere objects for evangelism. There is a far broader agenda at work here. To assume otherwise perpetuates the stereotypes we desperately need to move beyond.”

Morehead has suggested holding a “public Pagan-Christian dialogue at an educational institution in the near future” in order to discuss some of these issues and ideally move beyond some of the inherent skepticism found in these dialogues. I think such a move could be a good step forward, depending on the participants involved. For more conversation on this issue, check out the comments section of my original post, and the comments on the Strange Onion Peelings blog.

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

A lesson to politicians and public figures, if you’re going to hire a Voodoo priestess to curse an opponent, make sure you don’t bounce the checks paying for said services.

“[Cobb Commissioner Annette] Kesting wrote $3,000 in bad checks, allegedly for the services of a “high priestess of voodoo” to prepare an untimely demise for commissioner-elect Woody Thompson. Kesting wanted the priestess, identified by authorities as George Ann Mills of Blythewood, S.C., to cause Thompson to “catch cancer” or “have a car accident” according to a police report obtained by WSB-TV.”

Apparently Kesting was unhinged enough to not realize that leaving a paper-trail and an unhappy (and unpaid) priestess would come back to haunt her. Police are now investigating the matter.

Time Magazine reviews a new book about witch-hunts by John Demos entitled “The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World”. According to reviewer Gilbert Cruz, the book explores the inherent sexism and insular nature of witch-hunting.

“While the goal for all is separation from a despised ‘other,’ witch-hunting alone finds the other within its own ranks. The Jew, the black, and the ethnic opposite exist, in some fundamental sense, ‘on the outside’…The witch, by contrast, is discovered within the host community.”

According to Demos, the last “real” witch-hunts in the West were the 1982 Bakersfield “Satanic Ritual Abuse” convictions. A sad example of how the “Satanic Panics” led to innocent men and women spending years in prison.

While I’m on the subject of book reviews, Christian blogger and academic John Morehead reads and reviews the odious anti-Pagan smear-job of Linda Harvey’s “Not My Child: Contemporary Paganism and New Spirituality” so you don’t have to.

“Just like other parts of society we evangelicals in our subculture create our own monsters. One of our leading monsters at present seems to be Paganism. Islam and homosexuality are other creatures in our laboratory. I wonder why we create them. That we do can hardly be denied when we consider the plethora of books we write on the topic and the sensationalist tone that often accompanies them. One of the tricky things about monsters is that they often come back to haunt their creators. Sometimes they ask us some thorny questions too … what does evangelical monstrous creation and resultant fear of stereotypical Paganism tell us about ourselves? I’m afraid if we reflect on this monster we may not like the answers.”

John, who edited the groundbreaking “Beyond the Burning Times”, is quickly becoming my go-to filter for books about Paganism written by Christians. You should also check out his review of “Generation Hex: Understanding the Subtle Dangers of Wicca” (an anti-Pagan book I explored here previously).

Remember my post a week ago about the rock-opera treatment of “The Wicker Man” currently playing in San Francisco? Well, fellow Pagan blogger Mertseger recently attended the production and has posted a review.

“Essentially, this stage production is The Wicker Man (1973) minus the music of Paul Giovanni plus the music of Jim Fourniadis … All in all, the show is well worth the price, and I recommend Bay Area Pagans checking it out. If you like the 1973 film, then this show is a lively and small variation on the same material. Be sure to bring a beer in a brown paper bag (or you will feel horribly out of fashion) and enjoy the romp.”

I recommend reading the entirety of this well-written review. If only more Pagan-centric arts criticism could be so erudite.

In a final note, both Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion and Modemac’s Bulldada Newsblog take note of a story in which an academic thesis on racist Odinist/Satanist Kerry Bolton was pulled from the library of a New Zealand college after he complained.

“Waikato University has abruptly pulled a student’s thesis from its library after complaints from the subject of the research – a right-wing extremist. The thesis, exploring satanic and neo-Nazi themes, had already been marked and published, earning its author top marks … The newspaper said it established that no legal threat had been received against either Mr Van Leeuwen or the University of Waikato. Rather, the thesis was the subject of a mere complaint from Kerry Bolton. Professor Bing told Nexus the thesis was a first-class piece of work, and was externally moderated by other universities before being published.”

So an extremist writes in a complaint about a thesis regarding him, and despite rigorous vetting of said thesis for accuracy (by multiple institutions), it’s pulled? Has the University of Waikato no spine? If every thesis that the subjects of research didn’t entirely approve of got pulled, modern academia would very likely grind to a standstill. As for Roel van Leeuwen (himself a member of several occult and esoteric Orders and Societies), the author of the thesis, he stands by his work.

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

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

We start off with a request for healing for Pagan chaplain and activist Patrick McCollum. Patrick recently underwent spinal surgery, and due to recent complications has been moved to the ICU.

“The reason I’m writing all this about Patrick — and I am only scratching the surface — is to tell you that he is dealing with a medical condition for which I’m asking your help. On August 15, Patrick underwent surgery for a long-standing problem with his spine. The surgery itself went well, but two days later Patrick suffered a complication that necessitated further surgery on August 18. He has been in ICU at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, California since then, and remains there, although much improved. Patrick welcomes healing. Given what I’ve told you about him, and that you have a photo and know where is is, I ask that you remember him in your prayers and rituals, light candles, appeal to his Lady Brigit, and do whatever else you can to hasten Patrick’s relief from extreme pain and his ultimate recovery.”

McCollum, due to his extensive work with prison chaplaincy, recently appeared before the US Commission on Civil Rights in Washington. A first for any modern Pagan. We here at The Wild Hunt wish him a speedy recovery.

Christian blogger and academic John Morehead, editor of the recently released “Beyond the Burning Times”, reviews the new book “Generation Hex: Understanding the Subtle Dangers of Wicca” so I don’t have to.

“…in a chapter where the authors discuss the surprises they encountered in their research for the book, one of the authors (Burroughs) addresses one of the surprises he encountered in terms of alleged links between Wicca, Satanism, sexual promiscuity, and child abuse: “I’ve found these assertions to be unfounded (at least in mainstream Wicca).” I italicized the last portion of the quote to draw attention to the issue I’m raising here. While Burroughs was pleased to discover that Wicca does not engage in the worst of its stereotypical associations, nevertheless, for Burroughs this appears to be the case with “mainstream Wicca,” which appears to leave room for non-mainstream or underground Wicca, whatever those may be.”

If you want to hear many of the routine (and often sensationalist) Christian criticisms of Wicca from “Generation Hex” co-author Dillon Burroughs, you can listen to an interview with him on Debbie Chavez’s Christian radio program (warning, this is a Christian echo-chamber, listen at your own risk).

An Irish and Canadian paper each run their own version of the standard “meet the Witches” article. The Belfast Telegraph interviews Sarah Cavanagh of Co Armagh about her journey into Paganism.

“Years ago, I would have worried about what people thought and would not have told anyone I was a witch. Now there are so many people like me, that I simply think that the people who matter don’t mind and the people who mind, don’t matter.”

Meanwhile the Nanaimo Daily News interviews the organizers of an upcoming Pagan Pride Day event.

“Anyone hoping to see animal sacrifices or disemboweling during Pagan Pride Day Saturday, will be greatly disappointed say two spokespeople for the Pagan church which is hosting the Nanaimo event at Kin Hut Park in Departure Bay. “One of the main reasons we hold Pagan Pride Day each year is to debunk myths like that,” said Kam Abbott of Nanaimo’s Temple of the Green Leaf Cauldron Church.”

So sorry folks, no disemboweling here, move along!

A double “witchcraft” slaying I covered back in January is finally coming to trial, and the prosecutors want to enter a Satanic bible and an affidavit from a Satanic high priest as evidence against Lawrence Harris, who murdered his two step-daughters.

“Prosecutors say Harris was practicing satanism and that the killings were part of a ritual from a satanic bible. Harris’ attorney, assistant public defender Michael Williams, said during a court hearing on Wednesday that prosecutors are seeking to link what Harris says and does to satanism. Casting spells and practicing witchcraft is not proof of satanism, Williams said. “(They) want shock value, sensationalism and knit-pick analysis of religious text in order to satisfy an inference,” Williams said.”

Needless to say, I would LOVE to read this affidavit from the alleged Satanic high priest (and know his identity). Lawrence Harris is pursuing an insanity defense. Trial is set for Oct. 14.

In a final note, medievalist and blogger Bo was shocked to hear Old Irish in the recently released Hellboy II.

“I went to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army last night, and to my slack-jawed disbelief, the elves were speaking Old Irish (or an awkward version thereof). It was like being a twitcher who draws the curtains one morning to see a pink flamingo standing on the windowsill. It was oddly accented (Balor was the best) and I’d need to see transcriptions to be sure that it was correct, but I don’t think there’s any doubt that they were trying to use the language … Nothing in all the film’s wonders moved me so much as hearing the meaningless preverbal particle no- with a 2nd singular Class A infixed pronoun (leniting).”

More proof of how awesome Guillermo del Toro is? Yes. Yes it is.

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

John Morehead blogs about an upcoming conference taking place at Trinity International University in Illinois entitled “Trinity Consultation on Post-Christendom Spiritualities: The New Unreached People Groups”. Who are the “new unreached people groups”? We are.

“The conference will be a gathering of practitioners and scholars addressing the decline of Christianity in the West and the concomitant growth of new unreached people groups expressed in religions and spiritualities such as modern Paganism, New Age, and other alternative spiritualities. Plenary sessions and parallel workshops will address the topics of the future of religion in the West, the make up of the alternative religious marketplace and approaches in engaging adherents of alternative spiritualities.”

The talk is co-sponsored by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization Issue Group 16 and the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies. Two groups dedicated to “culturally sensitive” evangelism of new religious movements like ours. Participants include the aforementioned John Morehead, new religious movements scholar J Gordon Melton, and Michael T. Cooper, who recently presented a paper about Druidry.

While I suppose it is flattering to receive all this attention from Christians in our increasingly multi-religious society, it does raise some questions. For example, can open and respectful dialog co-exist with attempts by the same people to evangelize and convert us? John Morehead, who is at the forefront of developing new “culturally sensitive” evangelization tactics, is also breaking new ground in opening channels of dialog between Christians and Pagans. Do these dual roles impair real communication? Can we balance dispelling misconceptions without in turn also empowering those who would see our faiths disappear?

I’m all for better dialog and understanding. I think that a basic understanding of modern Pagan theology and practice by the general populace can only help reduce intolerance, discrimination, and the diabolic fantasies that fueled the “Satanic panics” of years gone by. On the other hand, in regards to dialog with Christians, specifically evangelical Christian movements, these efforts at better understanding have in some way helped fuel a rash of anti-Pagan (though somewhat more accurate) books. Christians are talking to us, but many seem to be doing so to help “inoculate” their children and faith community from the “infection” of a post-Christian culture.

I think Christian scholars like John Morehead are doing us a service, but we must remain open-eyed as we engage them. For many Christians, particularly those actively interested in dialogging with us, their active mandate is to ultimately convert us. “Engaging the unreached” is simply a nicer way of saying “evangelizing the unsaved”. The context and attitudes may be different, but the goals remain consistent.

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

To start off, happy birthday to Rome, which was founded by the mythical twins Romulus and Remus on April 21, 753 BC. On that day a pagan festival ensues that some call the “Christmas of Rome”, and hundreds dress in traditional Roman military garb.

The Wall Street Journal shows that gods and goddesses can indeed change over time. Representatives and mediums of anticommunist ancestor deities residing in Taiwan are softening their stance towards China as political relations thaw between the two nations.

“…after being anti-China for decades, some of the gods around here are having a change of heart. At least that’s what their representatives say. The keeper of the temple of Lee Kuang-chi’en, a colonel in the Nationalist army who died fighting the Chinese in the 1940s, says Mr. Lee now wants to return to his homeland in peace. Su Ai-chih, a 67-year-old retiree and spiritual medium, says a woman who was drowned by Chinese soldiers and turned into a goddess has even asked believers for help in reconnecting with her family on the mainland. ‘The goddess possessed me and told me that she wanted to go home,’ she adds.”

This is a perfect illustration of polytheistic theology in action. Gods can change, practice can change, and those who do not change risk losing worship. There is no singular text or law holding these faiths in a static position.

“Fortunately, Chinese folk religion — a widely practiced mix of indigenous beliefs and elements of other religions — is remarkably forgiving. Not only does it often co-exist alongside other beliefs, its worshippers can create, discard or modify gods. That’s particularly true of gods who aren’t considered to be ling — effective or powerful. As ties between China and Taiwan improved, Kinmen’s anticommunist gods started to lose their ling. ‘Chinese folk religion doesn’t have a scripture, so everyone has his way of interpreting a god,’ says Chi Chang-hui, an anthropologist on Kinmen who has studied anticommunist cults. ‘And nowadays, that is less hostile to the mainland.’”

The gods and worshipers remain, but to survive in different eras, they adapt and adjust (or they fade away). A common event throughout the history of polytheism, one that can seem alien to those growing up in a culture dominated by a “religion of the book”.

If you think the myth of “The Burning Times” is overblown and harmful, wait till you start to explore the Christian persecution complex. A “discursive entity”, according to Professor Elizabeth A. Castelli, “impervious to critique, self-generating and self-sustaining.”

“This trend mobilizes the language of religious persecution to shut down political debate and critique by characterizing any position not in alignment with this politicized version of Christianity as an example of antireligious bigotry and persecution. Moreover, it routinely deploys the archetypal figure of the martyr as a source of unquestioned religious and political authority.”

The article is wide-ranging and covers a growing spiritual militarism within Christianity that is fueled by a deep-seated (though often illusory) sense of persecution. The Reveler web site offers only an excerpt, for the entire article head over to the Differences journal page, where you can download the entire piece, along with several related works.

Speaking of “The Burning Times”, Christian blogger John Morehead interviews Christopher S. Mackay about his brand new translation of the infamous “Malleus Maleficarum” (”The Hammer of Witches”). A tome that is blamed for enabling the execution of thousands of innocent men and women for the crime of “witchcraft”.

“I’d say that the Malleus was responsible for the acceptance of a new “paradigm” (in the sense advocated by Thomas Kuhn) about witchcraft. That is, the dissemination and widespread acceptance of the point of view (or world view) that underlay and instigated the so-called “craze” of witch hunting in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries can be attributed (ultimately) to the Malleus.”

The new version, which is apparently far more coherent and readable than previous translations, gives us a means of understanding how this establishment of “diabolism” (Satanic witchcraft) still lingers in our world today, and helped inform such tragedies as the “Satanic panics” of the 80s and early 90s. An important text to have, though I think I’ll wait for the soft-cover edition, since the two-volume hardcover runs for several hundred dollars.

Over at “Blog o’ Gnosis”, Anne Hill criticizes efforts by Reclaiming to reach out to racial minorities in order to make the group more “diverse”. Hill questions why the organization should be on a diversity recruitment drive when they don’t even have their own “house” in order.

“…the obsession with proselytizing, I mean bringing in new blood – no, I mean reaching out to others who could be helped by people like us. As several people at my table mentioned, other religions are not diverse, and they seem to have no problem with it. Wasn’t the point of a spiritual community to give aid to its members? Why were we even discussing strategies for bringing different kinds of people in, when we were gathered for a rare opportunity to meet each other face to face? It was at this point that I had to point out the essential backwardness of our discussion topic. Reclaiming is insular. Painfully so, embarrassingly so. We really needed to be asking the opposite question: why don’t we get out more? Why aren’t more of us involved in interfaith activities? There’s plenty of diversity there, but that would involve going to meet others rather than reeling them in to us. Why don’t more folks even make the trek to San Jose for Pantheacon each year? Isn’t there anything we can learn from other Pagans?”

The issue of expanding racial diversity (and similar issues) is, according to Hill, a “red herring” that prevents Reclaiming from working through deep divisions that already exist within the community. A state of affairs that has distanced several Reclaiming veterans from the tradition they helped create.

In a quick final note, a Llewellyn Journal article tells you what you really need to do.

“The only thing that we as new magickians really need to do is rely on a made-by-reputation company like Llewellyn Publications, because nothing is as easy as it seems.”

Indeed, nothing is as easy as it seems.

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

Today is Easter, the holiest day in the Christian liturgical calendar, and most Christians will be out attending church and engaging in family get-togethers. So I thought this would be a good time to look at some upcoming and recently published books that look at Christian-Pagan relations. While most titles of this sort still treat modern Paganism as an insidious evil to be rooted out, there does seem to be some softening in position, and at least one volume that engages in real dialog.

We will start with the most hostile of recent works, Linda Harvey’s “Not My Child: Contemporary Paganism & the New Spirituality”, which uncovers the “casual occultisms” that lead teens to “radical” (and by inference, dangerous) Pagan spirituality.

“The author compares the modern version of ancient practices – “neopaganism” – to core biblical principles and exposes the flaws, including the gender and sexuality risks inherent in these radical new beliefs. The fingerprints of evil are all over what appears to be innocent packaging of youth activities and entertainment.”

People like Harvey represents those ultra-conservative groups within Christianity who believe that any social changes not mandated by the Bible are precarious evils to be battled at all costs. In their view, the rise of modern Paganism confirms all that they fear: the resurrection of Christian-persecuting pagan Rome (usually led by the Antichrist). A persecution narrative that they cling as tightly to as some Pagans do the myths regarding the “Burning Times”.

Slightly less hostile in tone is “Generation Hex: Understanding the Subtle Dangers of Wicca” by Marla Alupoaicei and Dillon Burroughs (not to be confused with the 2005 book on modern magick) . While the book talks about Paganism as something one becomes “caught up” in due to “spiritual hunger”, they at least claim to interview several Pagans in the process of writing the book.

“In Generation Hex, Marla Alupoaicei and Dillon Burroughs explore the history, culture, and practices of Wicca. As part of their research, they interviewed travelers to historic Salem, Massachusetts, consulted practitioners of leading neopagan conferences in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, and dialogued with several current and former adherents of Wicca and other forms of witchcraft to evaluate the past and present of this growing spiritual tradition.”

If “Not My Child” represents the “isolationist” camp, then books like “Generation Hex” (and “Wicca’s Charm”) strike closer to something very like engagement with modern Pagans. You could call it “limited (or impaired) engagement”, where one or both camps are hostile, or are engaging in dialog in order to ultimately debunk (or demonize) the position of the other.

Which brings us to an upcoming book that promises a full and open dialog between Pagans and Christians, “Beyond the Burning Times: A Pagan and Christian in Dialogue” (out now in the UK). The book, edited by John W Morehead, is a wide-ranging discussion between Pagan author and political scientist Gus diZerega and Australian Christian theologian Philip S. Johnson on a variety of social and theological issues.

“A fascinating dialogue between a Pagan and a Christian. Gus DiZerega, an American pagan and and an academic engages in debate with Philip Johnson, an Australian Christian theologian. The two debate questions such as the nature of spirituality, who or what is deity, how humans relate to the divine, the sacred feminine, gender and sexuality, and the teachings and claims of Jesus. At the end of the book another Pagan writer comments on what Philip Johnson has argued, and another Christian comments on what Gus DiZerega has argued. Paganism is acknowledged as the fastest growing ‘religion’ in western Europe and this book helps readers to engage with it and with orthodox Christian belief.”

Here we have (in theory) the most positive manifestation of Pagan-Christian relations. Respectful (and mutual) discourse without either camp using the opportunity to fear-monger or “score points” on the other. While “Beyond the Burning Times” may not lessen the tide of books from the previous two categories, it certainly represents a way forward from hostility and isolationism. Views that won’t do either side much good as modern Paganism continues to grow. Expect to hear more about “Beyond the Burning Times” as it reaches its American publication date (June 20th).

Have a good day, and may my Christian readers have a happy Easter.