A Sydney native who calls Melbourne home, Rule says, “It’s not such an unusual thing for music to have a magical and spiritual purpose. All the ritual music of traditional cultures — Aboriginal Australian and Native American shamans, folk music from across the globe, Gregorian chants and gospel music — share this same goal: to alter our consciousness and bring us in contact with the divine.” But, she adds, “I’m no more a Wiccan songwriter than I am a Scorpio songwriter, or an Australian one, or a female one. I’m just living and writing and singing and exploring my heart and soul — and I happen to be an Australian Scorpio Witch.”

While it’s nice that the paper decided to give some ink to Wendy Rule’s upcoming shows in America, you’d think they would bother to do more than simply cut-and-paste from her web site while implying they interviewed her. Maybe a long-distance phone call was too expensive for their operating budget? After all, these are hard times for newspapers.

If you want to brag once and for all that you’re as smart as (or possibly smarter than) Oberon “Grey School of Wizardry” Zell and Don “Witch School” Lewis you’ll get your chance at the upcoming St. Louis Pagan Picnic. According to a press release, they will be holding a trivia contest about “all things magical” open to all comers.

“Oberon Zell of Grey School and Don Lewis of Witch School have agreed to a trivia contest about all things magical to test their students and all comers. They plan to meet on June 13th & 14th at the St. Louis Pagan Picnic, held at Tower Grove Park. The St. Louis Pagan Picnic is the largest Pagan gathering in the Midwest, and brings together thousands for a weekend of friendship, fellowship, entertainment, teaching and merchants. The Wizards and Witches Trivia contest will be just one of the many parts to this wonderful event, but for the students of Grey School and Witch School, it is a highly anticipated one.”

The winners will receive unspecified “prizes”, one hopes that it isn’t a gift certificate to their respective schools. After all, would the winner of such a contest really need such a thing?

In a final note, workmen in Florence, Italy, while digging a hole for a new water cistern in the courthouse, stumbled across a temple to Isis.

“Workmen inside Florence’s courthouse have stumbled across a spiral column and hundreds of multicoloured fragments that experts believe may have belonged to a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.  According to Roman news agency ANSA, the remains, dating back to the second century AD, were discovered as the men dug a five by three meter hole, barely four meters deep, for a new water cistern for the courthouse’s anti-incendiary system … the remains were “comparable” to others found over the last three centuries in the immediate area that have also been attributed to the temple of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of motherhood and fertility who was later adopted by the Greeks and Romans.  The location of the temple is unknown, but it is believed to have been built just outside the Roman part of the city, near the current courthouse building…”

Florence’s archeology superintendency is currently overseeing the discovery, no announcements have been made as to what will ultimately be done with the find. Interesting that a courthouse was unwittingly built over the temple of a goddess that the Book of the Dead calls “She who seeks justice for the poor people”.

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

“People are circling the candlelit altar, clapping and stomping and screaming with abandon. Suddenly, the chant drops out, giving way to a wordless, pulsating hum. It’s a totally spontaneous, genuinely moving moment, and it sends shivers down my spine. I forget, for a moment, all about wizards and unicorns, forget that I mostly came here looking for a cheap laugh; the simple joy of being in a room full of people, singing and dancing and feeling at one, is more magic than I could have hoped for, and if this is the sort of spell that Oberon Zell-Ravenheart is capable of casting, then perhaps his claims to wizardry are not as far-fetched as I’d believed.”

You have to wonder how many skeptical journalists have been won over by better-than-expected rituals over the years. If you want to see the ritual in question, it’s up on Youtube.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Lisa Rose of the Star-Ledger explores if the economic downturn has been good for  New Age and Pagan belief systems and businesses.

“Like Reynolds, who is a Wiccan, a growing number of Jerseyans are exploring alternate routes to their spiritualilty — rather than joining a church, synagogue or mosque — to cope with the economic tailspin. While she’s been studying the stars and worshiping the earth for decades, there are plenty of novices shopping for inner wisdom at New Age stores and botanicas. “People are looking for something,” says Kim Sandak, owner of Whispers of Enlightenment, a New Age store in Hewitt. She reports healthy sales since she opened in October.”

Apparently “green”, “healthy”, and other counter-cultural businesses are also weathering the current downturn well. Whether this perceived trend continues, or even really exists outside individual cases, remains to be seen.

In a final note, we have an update on the controversial case of a Canadian mother and Odinist who had her child taken away after she was sent to school with a swastika and “white supremacist symbols” drawn on her arm.

“On Tuesday, another social worker testified the girl said she was missing school because her mom and stepfather didn’t wake her up on time. She told the social worker that her stepfather made the rules in the house, that he was angry and would get drunk, and that he didn’t make meals, or change her brother’s diaper often enough. The girl, now eight years old, went to school with white supremacist symbols drawn on her skin in March 2008. Her teacher scrubbed them off in the afternoon, but the girl showed up again the next day with another one, along with other white supremacist symbols drawn on her body. CFS caseworkers were alerted and went to the family’s apartment, where they found neo-Nazi symbols and flags, and took custody of the couple’s two-year-old son. CFS officials picked up the daughter at her school. The children have been in foster care since then.”

The stepfather is filing a constitutional challenge, while the mother is hoping to tell “her side of the story” and says that the social workers are lying about her and her daughter. You can read my original coverage of this issue, here.

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

Given these shake-ups in the world of print, I think it is entirely timely that I recently received a review copy of “Green Egg Omelette: An Anthology of Art and Articles From the Legendary Pagan Journal”. This book, a compliation of excerpts from one of the most influential Pagan magazines ever printed, shows just how vital and necessary the format once was. While books published for Pagans usually stuck to the “101-isms” of Wicca and other Pagan faiths, it was in the magazines that this loose network of Witches, Pagans, magicians, free-thinkers, and philosophers started to communicate, hash out ideas, argue, and push the boundaries of what they knew. It was a place where Pagan filk could rub shoulders with treatises on magic(k) by Robert Anton Wilson, and initial attempts at describing a Pagan theology could have a place next to explorations of polyamory. It is little wonder that even today Green Egg is remembered fondly by almost all who came across it in their journey.

I suppose it is at this point that I should share my own “discovering Green Egg” story, but I fear there is little to tell. I came across it in the 90s, after it had returned from a 12-year hiatus. I had heard famous stories about the legendarily volatile letters column, but as the Internet age dawned, most of the good (and bad) arguments were moving online, and the ones that remained made it seem like you walked into a dinner party at 1am (completely lost on what all the fuss was about). Still, I did like many of the editorials and articles, and picked it up whenever I could. When I discovered that it had folded, I was already fooling around with my first blog, and starting my journey towards what would eventually become The Wild Hunt. I had obviously missed out on something.

Receiving this “omelette” fills in for me why Green Egg was so important and pivotal. To say that this is an essential collection really doesn’t do it justice. So many BNPs (big-name Pagans) and influential thinkers have contributed to this magazine that reading this collection is like watching a time-lapse movie of our history. If books like Chas Clifton’s “Her Hidden Children” or Ronald Hutton’s “Triumph of the Moon” give you the essential outline of our history, “Green Egg Omelette” fills in many of the questions about who these people were. What did they think about? Who did they love? What kind of jokes did they tell, or songs did they sing? What (and who) were they passionate about? This is an invaluable document that rescues our living history from the memory hole, and presents it to a newer generation unfamiliar with where many of the ideas they hold (and argue about) come from. So consider this my endorsement to run out an buy several copies.

As for the future of Pagan magazines, I wish success on all that survive, but I believe an era is ending. I don’t think something as vital as Green Egg can come around again (the magazine’s recent attempt to re-launch on the Internet seems to somewhat miss the point of the new medium), and the magazines that do survive aren’t as influential as they once were (sorry guys, it’s just my opinion). Thanks to blogs, podcasts, social networking, and message-boards a savvy reader could get a “Green Egg” every week (complete with an assortment of “big names” and big arguments) for free without trying too hard. The challenge now for publishers and content creators wanting to venture into this brave new world is to find the magic formula for making a living while reaching their audience, a problem that many are now trying to solve (and a problem I have faith we’ll eventually solve). While that happens, amidst the “death pools”, and (possibly) folding newspapers, why not read “Green Egg Omelette” and remember why magazines and newsletters were once so darn important to our development.

“His surgery was on Friday and it went well; they removed a large section of his descending colon and adjacent mesentery, his doctor is confident that he took out all the cancer and any pre cancerous lymph nodes. He said that he did not see any swollen or discolored nodes. The tissue was all sent to Pathology and we should have the results later this week since the Lab is shut down for the holiday. We will know that the surgeon successfully removed all the cancer when we receive that report. Until then folks the coin is, magickally speaking, still in the air.”

Meanwhile McCollum, who suffered from complications after back surgery, is now out of the hospital and beginning the slow recovery process.

“Patrick was released from hospital this evening, with brace and cane and orders not to leave the house for two days minimum. He will have a long recovery. He remains heavily medicated to relieve intense pain. In spite of these difficulties, Patrick’s recovery has been amazing, no doubt helped in great part by the workings and prayers of many Pagans.”

The friends and family of both McCollum and Zell-Ravenheart request continued prayers and healing work as they recover.

Starhawk and the RNC Police Raids: Since I first reported, more information on warrantless police raids and arrests has emerged in the Twin Cities (including the arrest of journalists). While the RNC has been muted due to Hurricane Gustav, around 20,000 people are protesting outside (and yes, occasionally damaging property). Starhawk continues to post updates on her web site about the protests.

“All day we’ve been getting news that the police have been raiding houses, breaking down doors, arresting people, with or without warrants or warnings. We hold the morning meeting in a public park, because our Convergence Space has been raided and closed the night before. Someone says, “We’re a community that includes children—we can’t clear them out of their own living spaces. Remember if the police raid your space it’s important to have someone negotiate with them to get the children out.” I am a tough person. I’ve been through a lot of these things and in spite of all my efforts to stay open I’ve grown something of my own protective scales. But those words pierce through them, and I find tears welling up in my eyes. It just hits me, that we’re standing here in the United States of America, in the liberal city of my birth, talking about how to protect children from armed police.”

For continuing updates about this issue, check out the Coldsnap Legal Collective web site, their Twitter feed, the Twin Cities IndyMedia site, and Pacifica Radio.

Ellinais Acropolis Protest: Since I first mentioned it a few days ago, Ellinais’s planned (illegal) ritual to Athena at the Acropolis has made international news. Being covered by CNN, ARTINFO, The New York Times, The Guardian, and several others.

“Dressed in crisp white apparel, the pagans gathered before the east wing of the temple’s imposing Corinthian columns and prayed to Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens, asking her to protect the Parthenon from further destruction. “Oh, goddess,” roared high priestess Doretta Peppa, her hands extending over an offering of water and olive oil. “We are ready to defend your grounds. “[But] we ask of you to protect this site, this city and its civilization, and to rid it of all evils such as the deconstruction of the Acropolis.” The Greek Culture Ministry forbids ceremonies of any sort at archeological sites. But in January, the pagan revivalists used a second century temple of Zeus in Athens to stage the first known ceremony of its kind in 1,600 years.”

In perhaps a sign that the gods approved, Athena’s father Zeus provided a thunderstorm for the 13-minute ritual. The protest-prayer comes in the wake of plans for a massive new Acropolis Museum which the remaining Acropolis statues will be moved into. Ellinais priestess Doretta Peppa calls the new structure an “architectural monstrosity” that will erode Greek culture.

“The new museum,” Peppa said, “is a monumental eyesore, an architectural monstrosity within the most traditional and archeologically-rich part of Athens. It is an insult to our heritage, and if we start deconstructing our monuments for the sake of filling up a museum, then what will we be left with?”

Greek officials are hoping the new space will boost tourist income and pressure the British government to release the Elgin Marbles, which they claim were obtained illegally, back to Greece.
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/09/updates-on-recent-stories.html/feed 0 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/08/oberon-zell-ravenheart-diagnosed-with.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/08/oberon-zell-ravenheart-diagnosed-with.html#comments Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:14:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/08/oberon-zell-ravenheart-diagnosed-with-cancer.html News has come that Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, co-founder of the Church of All Worlds and the Grey School of Wizardry, has been diagnosed with colon cancer.

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart

Zell-Ravenheart is currently undergoing further tests to see if the cancer has spread, and if radiation and chemotherapy will be needed. A group of practitioners who have been doing coordinated healing magic for Oberon’s wife Morning Glory (who was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2006) will be engaging in a “Rolling Thunder”* coordinated healing working tonight and tomorrow.

“So, tomorrow is the full moon, and I know that many of you will be doing ritual for OZ anyway, and I’d like to see us return to this tradition, so I’m calling a Rolling Thunder for Oberon to begin at 9 PM. That’s always local time, and that’s for Saturday, August 16th. For those across the international dateline, for whom it is already Saturday, or if it’s more convenient to pick it up when it rolls across to Sunday, August 17th, that’s fine as well. Generally we continue the roll for at least 48 hours, to accommodate people who hear about the roll late, and just to keep pushing the energy and accelerating the wave.”

We here at The Wild Hunt know just how horrible cancer can be, and wish Oberon a swift and easy recovery. Thanks to Michael and Lupa for bringing this to my attention.

* According to the healing list, a “Rolling Thunder” healing ritual is when “a date and time is set, and at that time (the local time for each member), each member does a ritual (alone or with others in their own way) for what the ritual is about. Because we have members all over the globe, the energies raise over quite a period of time. It’s known to be quite effective.” For more specific information, you can join the Morning Glory Healing Update list.
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/08/oberon-zell-ravenheart-diagnosed-with.html/feed 0 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/05/best-of-green-egg.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/05/best-of-green-egg.html#comments Fri, 30 May 2008 17:48:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/05/the-best-of-green-egg.html Guest post by Chas S. Clifton

Before there was the Internet, there was Green Egg.

Published since 1967 (with interruptions in the late 1970s and early 2000s), Green Egg shaped American Paganism, provided bridges between different groups, and, I think, went a long way towards nudging Wicca, in particular, which had crossed the Atlantic as a small-group mystery religion, into a broader and more eclectic “nature religion.”

The only other publication (that I know of) nearly as long-lived is The Cauldron, a Witchcraft zine published in England since 1976.

In pre-Web days, Green Egg’s lively letters forum let people know who was out there and what they were doing. I found my first coven that way, by responding to a letter the HP and HPS had posted, telling about their activities.

Green Egg was the official house journal of the Church of All Worlds, but it carried everyone’s news: Gardnerian Witches, Druids, Egyptian Reconstructionists, and Pagans of all sorts.

Nowadays Green Egg comes as a PDF file.

But if you don’t have all those earlier issues on your bookshelf, help is on the way!

Oberon Zell, the founding editor, is putting together a “Best of Green Egg” anthology, due out in December from New Page Books.

I am happy to say that I have been involved in this project since the beginning, which involved reading all the back issues and swapping selection lists with Oberon and others. Yes, the project’s code name was Omelet.

It is amazing how well some of the articles hold up. People and groups come and go, some of the current-events mentioned may seem dated now (e.g., the Vietnam War), but the vision is still inspiring.

So we have chosen articles, short stories, poetry, music, art that still speak to a Pagan vision, gathered in such chapters as “Pagan Culture: Family and Tribe,” “Gender and Sexuality,” “Power & Politics: Changing the World,” and “Gods of Nature; Nature of Gods.”

We will be announcing it when it goes on sale, but right now, I need to get back to writing chapter intros!

(Thanks to Jason for letting me post here!)

“Harry Potter hackers say they have discovered the secrets behind the last book in the series, but the fact they disagree with each other casts doubt on their claims … One hacker-theory has Harry Potter deciding to end his life in order to kill his evil enemy Voldemort and also that Ron and Hermione will both die, after which the trio are reunited in the Deathly Hallows – the Ghost World – along with Harry’s late parents, Sirius Black and Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. However, a hacker calling himself Gabriel claims Ron and Hermione are attacked by Lord Voldemort and Hermione sacrifices her life to save Ron.”

One might think that many modern Pagans would be eager to ride this press bandwagon, but due to the hostile reactions from some Christian communities, most modern Pagans have taken pains to explain that Harry Potter isn’t some sort of recruitment tool for the occult arts, and have avoiding equating themselves with the popular series. But others in the wider Pagan community aren’t so scrupulous, and have bent over backwards to insert themselves into Pottermania.

“If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re more Griffyndor than Slytherin or ever doubted whether you really are just a muggle? Then put down you Harry Potter book and meet Oberon Zell-Ravenheart. He’s regarded as the inspiration for the fictional professor in the Harry Potter series[No he isn't. - ed]. Oberon has just set up the first real “Hogworts” style school, The Grey School of Wizardry. He’s also the founder of the Church of all Worlds … The junior wizard school resembles Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. It has the exact four houses described in the book. Oberon says these “elemental houses” are named after the “elemental creatures”: Sylphs, Salamanders, Undines and Gnomes.”

Yes, Oberon “living unicorn” Zell-Ravenheart, co-founder of the Church of All Worlds, has been plugging away for some time now on his online “Grey School of Wizardry” that offers to teach the “secular” science of Wizardry to Harry Potter obsessed kids and adults (mostly adults, really). Two recent press releases try very hard to tie the school in with the latest film. The first does everything in its power to convince us of Oberon’s essential “Dumbledore-ness”.

“When J.K. Rowling first conceived of the idea of Harry Potter, it is unlikely she had ever heard of Oberon Zell-Ravenheart. Yet as the Harry Potter legend took flight, more and more people began turning to this wise old Wizard in recognition. Oberon Zell-Ravenheart is the cover story in the Summer, 2007 issue of PanGaia magazine. His Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard will be featured in all Barnes & Noble Bookstores from July 12 through August 8 (coinciding with the release of the next Harry Potter movie and the final book in the series.) … This esteemed Wizard is referenced or quoted in over 80 books, and he has inspired, enthralled, and enlightened many a curious mind, both young and old. In all his calm yet commanding power, in his gentle yet absolute wisdom, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart is truly the real Albus Dumbledore.”

The second touts the “real” Hogwarts that is Ravenheart-Zell’s Grey School of Wizardry.

“The fourth Harry Potter movie takes us back to J.K. Rowling’s fictional “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” made famous as the setting for seven novels and four previous movies. These books and films have become the most popular literary phenomenon of all time. Millions of readers and viewers would love to board the “Hogwarts Express” and travel to a remote academy that teaches real magick, Witchcraft, and Wizardry. Well, as so often happens, fiction has become reality. A major online school has been established to meet these needs.”

Despite how “secular” one claims the online school to be, anyone can see that the vast bulk of its instructors are modern Pagans of one stripe or another. One also would question the editorial decisions of PanGaia to tout Oberon and his school when the magazine’s managing editor is also the Grey school’s “Dean of Studies”. But the larger question is, should we be intentionally mixing with Harry Potter? Isn’t using the books and films as a recruitment tool for a Pagan-run organization exactly what intolerant Christians blast J.K. Rowling for all the time? Isn’t it a bit unseemly to hijack an author’s work in order to make money for your own organization?
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