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

DVD Talk reviews the documentary series “Women and Spirituality”, which was recently released in the DVD format.

“There’s little doubt that goddess worship has actually picked up significant cultural steam since the original release of these pieces close to 20 years ago. While they’re all a little dated, they provide an earnest look into the history and continued observance of gynocentric worship practices and will be appreciated by those interested in the history of religion and especially women’s movements. Recommended.”

Religion Dispatches looks at the recent (somewhat controversial) appointment of a “Supreme Chief” within Haitian Vodou, and the ongoing quest for respect by practitioners.

“Voodoo suffers from a flaw built into both scholarly and popular typologies of religion, that of hierarchical thinking about religions. Beauvoir argues that Voodoo’s character derives from its location as a “popular religion.” But lacking a sacred text, law codes, or traditions of written commentary, Voodoo is a marginalized tradition – marked as “primitive,” as if religions evolve along a given trajectory-compared to those “world religions” that come to dominate empires.”

While a tiny, and until recently, officially unrecognized, religion, the article points out that Vodou has a “capacity to persist” that may allow the faith to weather the current social and political storms raging in their country.

The caretaker of a Taoist temple in Taiwan has a problem. Too many deities!

“Yang Liang, who takes care of the small Suxi Temple, said yesterday he used to tend to only five land gods, the lowest deities in folk Taoism. Last February, Yang said, he found two statues of Avalokitesvera, or the Goddess of Mercy, abandoned in front of his temple in west Suao … Sheltering the abandoned Goddesses of Mercy probably encouraged those who wanted to get rid of their deities to dump them at the temple … Altogether 12 statues, ranging from Avalokitesvera to Third Prince or San-tai-zhi, were left at the door of the temple Monday. “I can’t take care of that many gods,” Yang protested.”

Yang has posted bulletins around his village imploring locals to please take their gods back, as he doesn’t have the space and resources to care for them all. Perhaps he could ship them to willing polytheists outside Taiwan?

As modern Paganism continues to grow, more local journalists start to notice the Pagans in their own backyard. This coverage starts with the inevitable “meet the Pagans” piece. Here, we have a classic example of this phenomenon from Great Falls, Montana.

“…like the others [Melinda Berry] keeps her faith to herself around here. “I came from California, where no one really cares,” Berry said. “In the UK they were really open and didn’t care. In the military no one really cares. In Great Falls, Montana, people care.” But there is a growing pagan population locally and around the state. At least five to 10 people regularly attend the monthly Great Falls Pagans meetings at Hastings. Some area gatherings have drawn upward of 40 people…”

Though “people care” if your a member of a minority faith in Great Falls, Montana, this introduction is far more friendly than the one that arose in Great Falls, South Carolina.

Following up on a story I blogged about a year ago, the Delhi High Court in India has ruled that naked paintings of Hindu goddesses aren’t necessarily blasphemous.

“Maqbool Fida Husain, 92, a Muslim who has been dubbed “the Picasso of India”, was served with seven private criminal complaints by Hindu groups for the painting Bharat Mata (Mother India), a work representing the nation as a nude woman. The Delhi High Court judged that the picture, for which Mr Husain has apologised, carried no religious content and could not be construed as offensive. “A painter has his own perspective of looking at things, and it cannot be the basis of initiating criminal proceedings,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.”

This is a big step forward for artistic freedom in India, where Hindu-nationalist “moral police” (essentially the Indian equivalent to the Religious Right in America, only more powerful) are on the constant lookout for violations against their conception of “cultural purity”. These Hindu-nationalist groups vow to keep on fighting against Husain and others who transgress against their moral outlook.

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

If one looks at the practice of Haitian Vodou, you can’t separate the political unrest and desperate poverty from the ancestral faith of the island. So it is in this light that we must consider the news that a coalition of houngans (priests) have named Max Beauvoir the “supreme master” of Haitian Vodou.

Max Beauvoir, the public face of Haitian Vodou.

Beauvoir, who is the head of Le Peristyle de Mariani and the Temple of Yehwe, should most likely not be considered Vodou’s “Pope”, as the New York Times headline names him. Instead, his title of “supreme chief” is probably closer to a mix of “first among equals” and ambassador. Beauvoir says the position was created out of a sense of desperation among voodooists in Haiti over issues of political unrest and the religion’s survival.

“My position as supreme chief in voodoo was born out of a controversy,” Mr. Beauvoir said, saying Haiti’s elite had marginalized the houngans who generations ago wielded significant influence in society. “Today, voodooists are at the bottom of society. They are virtually all illiterate. They are poor. They are hungry. You have people who are eating mud, and I don’t mean that as a figure of speech.” … As it is now, he said, the government seeks the input of Catholic and Protestant leaders when grappling with societal issues. “But do they call for the input of the voodooists?” he asked, shaking his head.”

In addition to downward mobility, and dealing with rampant poverty and social unrest, Vodou practitioners in Haiti also have to deal with vilification from Christian missionaries who brand them devil worshipers and work tirelessly to convert the population. A “perfect storm” of troubles that resulted in this new position of authority. In Beauvoir’s view, Haitian Vodou needs to play a central role in the revitalization of Haiti, instead of trying to adopt Western values and traditions.

“They have been seduced by Western attitudes,” he said of current leaders. “They believe foreigners think that way so they have to think that way. They fear that if they don’t oppose voodoo, they won’t get a dime in their bowl.”

However, while Beauvoir may have noble goals, his own political dealings are somewhat controversial. He has been linked with Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, the last dictator of Haiti, who fled the country in 1986. In addition, Beauvoir has nothing but scorn for ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and sees the current crop of Haitian political leaders as sell-outs to Western power. But then, perhaps these views can be understood within the prism of Haitian Vodou, which enjoyed political and social power under the Duvaliers, and faced violent reprisals from Catholic and Protestant mobs in the chaos the followed their ouster.

What is certain, is that Haitian Vodou, like its homeland, is in grave peril and teeters on the edge of a complete violent collapse. This move by some Voodooists to centralize and actively advocate for their survival seems a logical move for a faith that feels backed into a corner. It should be interesting to see what Max Beauvoir, as newly dubbed supreme chief, will accomplish in this new role, and if the station will outlive Beauvoir to be passed on to another houngan. Whatever the ultimate outcome, this is certainly a important development in the history of a little-understood faith.