Today is the day, elections are being held, and we’ll soon find out if two out/outed Pagan candidates will win their respective races. The higher-profile story, that of Republican New York City Council candidate, and Heathen Theodsman, Dan Halloran, has gotten a bit ugly in the final hours.

“Though he once wrote on his PaganSpace webpage that “Theodism regularly practices blood sacrifice,” Halloran told the paper that the ritual is similar to Jewish dietary laws. That riled up Kim supporters. “By comparing animal blood sacrifices with the Jewish dietary laws of keeping kosher, it’s no wonder that Dan Halloran’s religion is supported by neo-Nazis and white supremacists,” Michael Dovid Sais, a Jewish Kim backer told the Daily News.”

Looks like the Village Voice piece conflating racist Heathens in prison with Halloran’s campaign has been somewhat successful in putting Halloran, once again, on the defensive when it comes to his faith. He’s now dealing with protesters outside Republican headquarters accusing him of anti-Semitism, some who are directly quoting the Village Voice article. As for the Village Voice, they defend their original piece, saying that they made it clear Halloran wasn’t a racist, even if large parts of the article happened to be about racist Heathens.

“We did point out that there’s an alarming trend in the country’s prisons of white supremacists adopting neo-heathenism for their white nationalist agendas. Experts tell us that as much as 50 percent of the country’s tiny neo-heathenist movement has connections to white supremacy. But we also made it clear, several times, that we found no tie between Halloran’s New Normandy and those white supremacist groups. Yes, Halloran seems to have found some fans at the white nationalist forum Stormfront, but that’s something he can hardly control.”

Meanwhile, both Halloran’s and Democrat Kevin Kim’s camps have been accusing the other of harassment and sabotage. All of which makes me think this is going to be a close one. But while Halloran’s story has gotten most of the attention from the press, Pagan or otherwise, he isn’t the only Pagan on the ballot this election day. Alice Richmond, who is the Democratic candidate for District 1 Supervisor in Page County, Virginia, is facing Republican Robert Griffith in a race that has seen Richmond’s religion used as a weapon against her.

“On September 18th the conservative talk-show SpeakOut interviewed Alice Richmond, Democratic candidate for District 1 Supervisor in Page County, Virginia. During the program a “Jim Logan” called and asked Richmond if she was “Lady Raya”, author of two books on Wicca. Richmond repeatedly denied the allegation on the air, causing her to backtrack later when a local television channel followed up on the story .. While her outing as a Wiccan may be damaging to the campaign, it is also very likely that opponents may have over-stepped in their out-the-Witch campaign, bringing her more free publicity and new supporters than she may have otherwise gotten. Meanwhile, a commenter on Richmond’s blog points out that accusations of a set-up by the hosts of SpeakOut were all but confirmed on the program’s next episode.“

So we have two Pagan candidates, both of whom are trying to move past the public revelations that they belong to minority faiths in a country where being Christian seems to be almost a prerequisite for gaining political power. If you’re not, then you have to endure increased scrutiny, and often, insinuations of anti-Americanism. It isn’t pretty, but perhaps Wilfred M. McClay, a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is right when he says that “it’s something that these neo-pagans have to go through”. See you all tomorrow for the results.

ADDENDUM: Halloran wins, Richmond loses, more on both of these races early tomorrow morning!

Tonight and tomorrow is when most modern Pagans celebrate Samhain. Samhain is the start of winter and of the new year in the old Celtic calendar. This is a time when the ancestors are honored, divinations for the new year are performed, and festivals are held in honor of the gods. It is a time of final harvest before the long winter ahead. It is perhaps the best-known and most widely celebrated of the modern Pagan holidays.

©photo by Michael Rauner Spiral Dance 2008, Kezar Pavilion, San Francisco, CA

It is a time when some communities acknowledge the Mighty Dead.

“The Mighty Dead are said to be those practitioners of our religion who are on the Other Side now, but who still take great interest in the activities of Witches on this side of the Veil. They have pledged to watch, to help and to teach. It is those Mighty Dead who stand behind us, or with us, in circle so frequently.”

Many who have been dear to our communities have crossed the veil this past year, joining the ranks of the Mighty Dead, including Ted Andrews, Marion Weinstein, Leonard Shlain, Lady Urania, Hans Holzer, John Michell, and Suzanne Wenger (aka Adunni Olorisa).

“I love that story about Susan Anthony that Zsuzsanna Budapest tells in her book. Some journalist asked Susan Anthony, because she didn’t believe in orthodox religion, I suppose, “Where do you think you’re to go when you die?” She said, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to stay around and help the women’s movement.” So even if I don’t live long enough to see these things, I’ll be around to make a nuisance of myself.” – Doreen Valiente, the Mother of Modern Witchcraft.

Below you’ll find an assortment of quotes from the media and from fellow Pagans on the holiday.

“Death is part of the life cycle. This time of year we say farewell to the garden, to the crops and to our ancestors. We welcome and celebrate the coming of the dark half of the year. It’s at this time of year we communicate with the spirit world and we honor the spirit world.” – Patti Wigington, ABC World News

“Here in San Francisco, our Reclaiming tradition of Wicca (another term for the religion of the Witches) creates a big, public ritual, with art, music, poetry and dance weaving together to create sacred space. We name those who have died this year, and offer a chance for mourners to grieve with the support of our community. For us, death is a natural part of life. We acknowledge the sadness of our losses, but death itself is not something to fear. It’s simply one stage in the great cycles of birth, growth, death and rebirth that to us are sacred. The heart of our ritual is the spiral dance, when over a thousand people dance together in a double spiral that symbolizes rebirth and regeneration. Moving together, passing one face after another, we enter together into a state of deep connection and ecstasy.” – Starhawk, On Faith, The Washington Post

The Apple Branch Protogrove of Champaign-Urbana, a sect of the international Pagan group called A Druid Fellowship, will hold a ritual for Samhain in honor of deceased loved ones, said Cindy Westfall [a super-cool friend of mind - Jason], head Pagan of the organization. “It’s nice to acknowledge them,” she said about the deceased. “Their continued presence and their influence is important.” – Nora Ibrahim, The Daily Illini

“Verin-Shapiro, who isn’t a pagan, says Samhain means various things to Wiccans and others depending on their traditions. “In addition to the new year, it’s a harvest festival, a time of celebration and reflection,” she says. “If they choose to, they can think about loved ones or call upon them, but not everybody does that.” Many perform rituals that free themselves from negative things that occurred in their lives in the past year — and welcome into their lives the positive things that they want to see happen in the coming year.” – Ron Orozco, The Detroit Free Press

“While facing the altar, if past practice holds, [Michael] York will invoke the names of the ancestors and loved ones who have died. He will often write down their names, too, and keep that piece of paper in the cabinet. One can mourn on any day, as Mr. York put it recently, but on this occasion, “the veil between the worlds is understood to be thinnest.” The day that most Americans know as Halloween, a commercial bonanza and secular holiday with only the faintest remnants of its pantheistic origins, Mr. York celebrates as Samhain, the autumnal new year for Pagans. And for Mr. York, Paganism is indeed a proper noun, connoting a specific religion that he has observed for decades.” – Samuel Freedman, The New York Times

May you all have a blessed Samhain, blessings to you, and your beloved dead on this season. Let this new cycle be one of great blessings for all of you. Also, in recognition of the holiday, I’ve created a special early edition of my podcast chock-full of Halloween and Samhain-themed music! Just in time for the coming celebrations. Enjoy!

You knew it was coming, the religion news-writers were priming the pump, and with Halloween/Samhain only days away a veritable flood of articles, opinion-pieces, and interviews featuring or discussing modern Pagans have been unleashed into the world. There’s no way to justly discuss and analyze them all, so instead I’ll simply give you a quick run-down, a sampling, of the annual Pagan publicity rush. Lets start with the dissenters shall we? They are often the most fun to talk about. We’ll begin with a piece that isn’t really a Halloween piece, but very well could be, as it sets the mood so nicely.

“Several Christian denominations see New England as a “mission field” – a term often associated with unchurched, foreign lands. As they evangelize and work to plant new churches, they speak of possibility, but also frustration. The area’s highly educated population is skeptical and often indifferent to their faith.”

New England? Wait, isn’t the “witch city” of Salem in New England? One wonders if they’ll be seeing more conflicts between preaching Christians and partying Pagans this year? It’s a possibility the story, sadly, doesn’t explore. Meanwhile, Charisma Magazine lets Christians know that merely setting out a pumpkin makes you an unwilling tool of Satan!

“Mother earth is highly celebrated during the fall demonic harvest. Witches praise mother earth by bringing her fruits, nuts and herbs. Demons are loosed during these acts of worship. When nice church folk lay out their pumpkins on the church lawn, fill their baskets with nuts and herbs, and fire up their bonfires, the demons get busy. They have no respect for the church grounds. They respect only the sacrifice and do not care if it comes from believers or non-believers.”

This sort of demonic mush is repeated in Trumpet Magazine as well. Thankfully some Christians, in this instance a Catholic, seem to really understand the spirit of the holiday, and doesn’t cower at the imagined demons haunting the evangelicals.

“As a friend of mine observed recently, there is something medieval about Halloween. The masks, the running around in the dark, the flicker of candles in pumpkins, the smell of leaves and cold air—all of it feels ancient, even primal, somehow. Despite the now-inevitable preponderance of media-inspired costumes, Halloween seems, in execution, far closer to a Last Judgment scene above a medieval church door, or to a mystery play, than it does to Wal-Mart. To step outside on Halloween dressed as someone—or something—other than yourself is to step into a narrative that acknowledges that the membrane between our workaday, material world and the unseen realm of spirits is far thinner and more permeable than many of us like to think.”

Frankly, their All Saints’ Day dress-as-your-favorite-saint party sounds like a ton of fun. Once I get into better shape, I’d probably dress as St. Sebastian, complete with arrows and mock-tree. Now, lets leave the Christians alone, and turn to intrepid reporters talking to Pagans! The Canadian weekly SEE features an article by Marliss Weber, who attends a full-moon gathering and finds herself, despite having to sing the “vagina moon song”, moved by the experience.

“…modern witchcraft is welcoming and inclusive, and so are the witches I’m with tonight. They all help me as I stumble through the four elements and the four directions, and as I try to express how I feel in the moment, again I find myself near tears.”

While Weber attends a full-moon gathering, most papers are talking to Pagans who are gearing up for Samhain, like the Pennsylvania Black Hat Society Network, the practitioners at the Temple of St. Brigid’s Doom, the proprietor of the Fly-by-Night store in Ohio, and a British traditional Wiccan coven in Oregon.

“On such a night, Wiccans like Anton and Snavely gather in a sacred, circular space. Placing a drop or two of fine-smelling oil, they “dress” the candles they will use to focus their intent in four directions. Living things have an energy field that people perceive in various ways, but witches operate outside of our official defined five senses. They gather in a circle to contain energy, then raise the energy by dancing, singing and using their bodies. “We are between worlds, the energy world and the tangible,” Snavely said, adding that this is why it is bad to bring watches into the circle. The priestess directs the ritual to a crescendo, and everyone focuses on transferring the energy into a physical object such as a necklace or a worry stone meant for a son going to Iraq.”

But while (some) Christians close the blinds and turn off the porch light, and while many Pagans prepare for their Samhain rites and Witches’ Balls, others prefer to be wet blankets about the whole thing.

“I don’t like Halloween’s gimme-gimme nature. A holiday celebrated by sending children out to ask for candy leaves me cold, to say nothing of the absurdity of encouraging gorging on sweets in a nation with a serious obesity problem. I don’t like the phrase “trick or treat,” even though the implied threat is rhetorical. But I also don’t like when kids don’t bother to say “trick or treat,” but just reach out to grab candy. Or when they don’t bother to put on a costume. Or when they are either very large children with facial hair and men’s voices, or they are adults. And the wastefulness is mind-boggling — from those individually wrapped packets to all the candy that gets thrown out because even children have their limits.”

Man. What a Debbie downer. It must be TONS of fun at her house. She must be suffering from my new favorite malady, “Samhainophobia”. Anyway, that is just tip of the journalistic iceberg, expect even more in the next few days. If you find a particularly good (or bad) Samhain-themed article, feel free to share it in the comments.

Well-known Pagan author and lecturer Isaac Bonewits, who was hospitalized on October 21st, has apparently been diagnosed with a rare form of colon cancer.

Isaac and Phaedra Bonewits

“Isaac is doing much better with his white cell count still going down. However, they have confirmed that one of the three tumors is cancerous; there will be more biopsies on Monday as they want to make sure all three have been biopsied individually. …Good news, it’s a rarer form of cancer that responds well to chemo and radiation. No surgery!”

In addition to sending healing energies and prayers, they will no doubt end up needing help with their medical bills (not to mention lost income). If you wish to make a contribution to the couple to help defray the costs of this hospitalization, there is donation information here. For up-to-date news and information, you can follow their Facebook fan-page. We here at The Wild Hunt wish Isaac a full and speedy recovery.

It just isn’t Halloween without some anti-Pagan Christian propaganda! Luckily, Jeremiah Films is ready to sate my need for schlocky scare-mongering with “Popculture Paganism: Neovampirism, Wicca, and the Occult”.

“Recorded in Britain, India, and the United States, this film brings together over 30 years of research and interviews with Occultic experts, high-ranking witches, druids, and a former vampire. It gives viewers an understanding of the roots and dangers of this newly branded strain of paganism with exclusive footage of real-life ceremonies from the heart of England, featuring druidic rituals from Stonehenge and many witch covens.”

Of course by “over 30 years of research” they mean a pastiche cobbled together from previous anti-occult films with a bit of  “Twilight” and “True Blood” thrown in to make it seem more timely. If all this “research” makes you hungry for more, you can always check out the 13-DVD “Pagan Invasion Series”, where everything from Mormonism to psychotherapy is thrown into the mix. Naturally, if you don’t want to give Jermiah Films any money, you can always wait until some crank reads a Chick Tract and decides to write an editorial for the local newspaper.

“Halloween, which is the witches’ New Year, originated among the ancient Druid priests from Britain and France. This pagan holiday is held to celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of the Celtic year. The festival is named after Samhain (sah-ween), the God of the dead. The druids believed that on this night the spirits of the dead would come back and walk amongst the living to terrorize and harass them, some even possessing the bodies of animals. Also, during this time human and animal sacrifices are common, the blood spilled believed to open the gates to the dead, releasing them. To ward off these evil spirits the druids dress up as witches, demons or in other evil costumes, some participating in satanic rituals.”

Samhain God of the Dead! It’s been too long old pal! See, now it really feels like Halloween. Forget Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb filming in Salem, this is the real mood-setter.

This morning I received a letter from Rev. Cathryn Platine and Rev. Viktoria Whittaker, First Battakes and Battakes-in-Waiting of the Maetreum of Cybele located in upstate New York. It is usually not in my habit to re-print letters that I’m sent, but I think in this case it may be warranted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On a random whim I signed up for the yearly Blog Action Day a couple weeks ago, mostly because this year the theme was climate change/global warming and where better to talk about the environment than a blog that services many faiths that describe themselves as “earth-honoring”, “earth-centered”, “nature religion”, or even “Gaian”? However, I realized I had nothing new to say, despite helpful prompts from the Blog Action Day people like “Global Warming Facts and Figures”, “Top 100 Effects of Global Warming”, and “10 Solutions for Climate Change”. So instead of attempting something entirely new, I’ve decided to link and excerpt several past climate change and environmentally-themed posts here at The Wild Hunt. Think of it as our “greatest environmental-themed hits”.

Nature Religion For Real (A Review of “National Parks”)

“However, we’ve come a long way from the nature-loving hunter-conservationism of Roosevelt, and his party is more often the party of “drill, baby, drill”. Will “National Parks” ignoring almost the entirety of the modern environmentalism movement really galvanize bipartisan support for a new ethic of conservationism? Was it responsible for this love-letter to not even mention climate change, and the terrible damage it’s doing to the parks?”

Earth Day

“Modern Pagan and Heathen faiths, whether they identify as “nature religions” or not, have a special sacral relationship with the natural world. Our gods and goddesses can be found in oceans, rivers, forests, and mountains (indeed, in many cultures, Earth is the primal mother of most acknowledged gods and powers), some pre-Christian cultures envision a World Tree that binds reality together. Our rites often mark the changing seasons, and once tracked the progress of crops essential to our survival. Deity is not merely a transcendent force separate from creation, deity is everywhere and within every thing. Each of us holds the potential to be like the gods, and we acknowledge that the gods and powers walk and exist among us still. So it isn’t surprising that many Pagans feel a special urging to advocate for the environment and the protection of the natural world.”

Winning the Battle of Stanton Moor

“Emily Dugan of The Independent profiles the tree-sitters and eco-warriors who have spent nine years living in the trees at Stanton Moor in the Peak District National Park. Their goal? To stop the planned re-opening of two mines that threatened the Nine Ladies stone circle.“

Pagans and the Environment

“Often when people talk about modern Pagan religions terms like “earth-centered”, “earth-honoring”, and “nature religion” get used as a descriptor. These terms mean different things to different people, and some modern Pagan faiths reject such terminology altogether, but few can deny that modern Pagan religions have long been tied to environmental causes and concerns.”

The Limits of Earth Worship

“Now that scientific consensus is a close to unanimous as anything gets nowadays, we need leaders and governments who will take on the problem of global warming as a top priority. Any candidate (from any party) who runs for president in 2008 needs to have a robust plan regarding climate change if they want to be taken seriously as a world leader. As awareness and a desire to stem the tide of global warming start to spread (especially in the face of more Katrina-esque disasters) those of us who claim (in some fashion) to have a spiritual connection with the earth need to step forward and become the moral voice for environmental responsibility we have been claiming to be since 1970, and help guide the secular political actions that are to come.”

That’s all I have for now, be sure to check out some of this years Blog Action Day posts, and have a great day!

Ah October, the weather is getting cooler, the leaves are turning, and the best holiday of all, Halloween (aka Samhain to us Pagan types) quickly approaches. Since the Halloween season is only second to Christmas in spending and activity, it’s only natural that the journalists want to find a unique angle. This year’s theme seems to be about the holiday’s discontents.

“She hosts a monthly girls’ night out at a bar in Portland, Ore., and co-runs a plus-size vintage boutique called Fat Fancy. But there’s one thing that brings out the hate in her. Smith, 33, is among a contrarian contingent that takes a boo humbug approach to Halloween … Halloween haters aren’t as easy to categorize as that odd old lady on the block who always pretends that she’s not home on Oct. 31, or people who protest the day on religious grounds. The new Halloween Hater is young, loud and proud.”

Yes, the Associated Press found some “contrarians” and are calling it a trend, they even dug up Jerilyn Ross, president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, to give us the awesome term of “samhainophobia”, the fear of Halloween. Yes, we were obviously having too much fun last year, so this year, in honor of the recession, we have to dial it down a bit.

“Last year, we collectively shelled out $5.77 billion on everything from fun-sized candy bars to plastic gravestones for the front yard. This year is another story: according to a study by the National Retail Federation, that number is expected to drop to $4.75 billion this year. The recession has hit home for many more of us this year, and escapism has given way to pragmatism. Close to one in three say the economy is impacting their Halloween spending. Similarly, a recent Pricegrabber.com survey shows that 35 percent of us plan to spend less this Halloween.”

The blood-curling terror of the tightening belt! Even this year’s hit scary movie is low-budget! Meanwhile, another paper turns up its nose at Salem’s witch-hats and plastic capes in favor of a more cultured, well-mannered, tourist-excursion.

“Go to Salem this time of year for the witches. But if you’re like us, the things you’ll remember are the culture, history and flashes of foliage … But consider making it an overnight, and getting all the city has to offer — high art alongside hokey tourist traps (Dracula’s Castle); fascinating history alongside kitchy kiosks selling T-shirts that quip, “Stop by Salem for a spell;” magnificent architecture playing home to the city’s annual dubious celebration (commemoration?) of a 300-year-old tragedy. It’s one of the oddest (and most effective) marketing strategies of any city in the world: Come to Salem where 19 innocent women and men were hanged for being witches, and while you’re here, enjoy a visit to the Witch Dungeon!”

But no matter how hard some may try to ignore the ever-booming Witch craze in Salem, it’s still their top tourist money-maker, and neighboring cities want in on the action. Naturally a wrap-up like this can’t end without some Christian hand-wringing over the occult overtones of Halloween, and thanks to the BBC we’ve found a real fire-breather!

“Derry City Council’s Hallowe’en carnival encourages Satanism and has brought a curse on the city, according to a Methodist minister. Rev Jonathan Campbell, from Newbuildings Independent Methodist Church, has launched an online petition to stop this year’s event. He said Hallowe’en celebrations “make evil look innocent”, and has appealed for families to boycott the festival … Rev Campbell said his church was opposed to Hallowe’en because it was “one of the two major days for Satanists”, and “God’s word clearly condemns and warns people about celebrating or glorifying Hallowe’en or the occult”. “One of the main reasons we as a church are opposed to the carnival is that children are being disturbed”.”

Someones disturbed, but I don’t think its the “children”.  Still, it almost doesn’t seem like a true Halloween without some Christian crank blowing a gasket in the press. As for the press, I could certainly do without all the subtle “maybe we shouldn’t have so much fun in these bad times” hoo-ha, because if you can’t put on a mask, eat a little (or a lot of ) candy, have a little fun, and honor the dead to boot, what’s the point of even celebrating Halloween/Samhain?

It seems that The American Spectator hasn’t gotten the memo that modern Paganism and conservative politics have no trouble co-existing. How else to explain this time-warp of an essay from Australian writer Hal Colebatch? Colebatch decides to heap scorn on modern Paganism and Witchcraft by reviewing “Goddess Unmasked: The Rise of Neopagan Feminist Spirituality”, a scholarly tome from 1998 (he’s only 11 years behind the curve) that debunked many of the Pagan claims to a direct connection with their pre-Christian ancestors.

“The story that modern witchcraft cults are the descendants of something sometimes called “the old religion” (which has allegedly been slandered and driven underground by the oppressive forces of Christianity) is false and manufactured. In fact, this book shows that while these cults generally have the usual heritage of Gnosticism to be found in most Christian heresies, the ideas behind them were concocted by occultists largely men — mostly in the last couple of centuries. Those responsible included as unsavory a collection of disordered cranks, mountebanks, sexual predators and crooks as might be imagined.”

He wounds us to the quick! We are a modern invention! How will the modern Pagan religions ever recover? Our only chance is to meet Mr. Colebatch on equal ground, in the year 1998, and stare in horror at our own ignorance in hopes it will shake us awake from this pernicious fever-dream.

This is what Silver RavenWolf in 1998 relates about the Wicca culture: “Wicca, as you practice the religion today, is a new religion, barely fifty years old. The techniques you use at present are not entirely what your elders practiced even thirty years ago. Of course, threads of ‘what was’ weave through the tapestry of ‘what is now.’ …in no way can we replicate to perfection the precise circumstances of environment, society, culture, religion and magick a hundred years ago, or a thousand. Why would we want to? The idea is to go forward with the knowledge of the past, tempered by the tools of our own age.”

Wait, wait, Silver Ravenwolf? But she is widely regarded as ananthema to serious-minded Wiccans everywhere! Yes Virginia, Wiccans and Pagans were already well-aware of our (not terribly ancient) history even back then. In fact, only a year later, historian Ronald Hutton would publish the amazingly well-regarded “The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft” that celebrated Wicca’s rich history and spiritual vibrancy without the aid of an ancient origin. Today there is a thriving body of Pagan studies that does not live in fear history, nor cower at the implication that most Pagan faiths are modern concoctions. As for Mr. Colebatch, he should be careful at the insults he throws about carelessly.

“This book provides additional evidence for the fact that people who adopt one crank belief tend not to let it go at that, but to gradually adopt the whole spectrum of them, whether they are compatible with one another or not. Fairly innocent, or at least naïve, sandal-wearers and vegetarian cultists could link up with practitioners of full-blown Satanism. The 19th-century occultist and neopagan movements from which modern goddess-worship sprang had links with the origins of both communism and Nazism.”

For the very same thing could very well be said about some of his conservative-minded Christian bretheren in Colebatch’s home-country of Australia.

“A former political running mate of Family First senator Steve Fielding says dark forces are casting spells on Federal Parliament. Catch the Fire Ministries pastor Daniel Nalliah has organised a “prayer offensive” to combat evil forces including witchcraft, homosexuality and abortion … “These days people don’t think the Devil is real but we have seen the bad effects of the spiritual being known as Satan and we believe there is a spiritual fight over the nation of Australia being fought in the heavens … Asked what evidence of Satan there was in Parliament, Mr Nalliah said: “The number of politicians who have serious marriage problems … “Me trying to explain it to you is like trying to teach a cricketer how to play soccer,” Mr Nalliah said.”

Ah, the sanity and calm that comes with the ancient traditions of Christianity and the soundness of conservative politics, it truly makes me regret the years I’ve wasted defending modern Paganism. I know now that conservative parties would never do anything so intemperate or stupid as to create a (Christian) Creationist litmus test for their leadership. Truly, Mr. Colebatch and The American Spectator has shown me the light!

Catholic groups in Spain are protesting the soon-to-open film “Agora” (about the death of Hypatia of Alexandria) saying it is “biased” and “anti-Christian”.

“The president of the Religious Anti-Defamation Observatory, Antonio Alonso Marcos, has sent an open letter to Amenabar, also know for his pro-euthanasia film “The Sea Inside,” denouncing the film’s anti-Christian bias. “The reason for my letter is to make you realize something that you already know but have dismissed as unimportant: your film is going to awaken hatred against Christians in today’s society. You present a biased view of the relationship between science and the Church, between faith and reason. It has been pointed out to you directly and indirectly, and you have used a somewhat vague excuse and looked the other way,” Marcos wrote.”

Spanish Catholics would obviously prefer that the past misdeeds of Christianity be forever tucked away and never mentioned. To do otherwise is to be “biased” against them (they also claim it will “awaken hatred against Christians”). Of course it’s just fine for Catholics to constantly criticize paganism, both ancient and modern, they have no concerns about being seen as “anti-pagan” (indeed it is a point of pride). Despite these attacks, Oscar-winning director Alejandro Amenabar makes it clear that his movie is about violent extremists not common believers.

“The movie denounces people who at a certain moment stop debating ideas, set aside reason, have no room for dialogue and resort to violence. This happened 1,600 years ago and it continues happening today…”

As for the film, it is still looking for distributors in America, and once/if it does, expect more cries of protest from those who would like everyone to forget that Christians weren’t always the persecuted, but instead acted as persecutors as well.