The city of Euless has had its request for a rehearing in federal appeals court over the matter of animal sacrifice rejected.

“A federal appeals court has rejected Euless’ request for a rehearing on a decision that paves the way for a Santeria priest to resume sacrificing animals in his home during religious ceremonies. Jose Merced sued Euless, saying his First Amendment religious freedoms were violated when the city banned him from slaughtering goats in 2006. The city contended that such sacrifices jeopardized public health and violated slaughterhouse and animal-cruelty ordinances.”

Short of an appeal to the Supreme Court, which Euless seems to be considering, this case is done. If it does go to the Supreme Court, and Merced wins again, it could affect animal slaughter laws across the country. Clearing the way for religions like Santeria to sacrifice animals at their rites largely free from the threat of arrest or harassment. To read all my coverage of this case, click here.

At The Nation Max Blumenthal publishes an excerpt from his forthcoming book that concerns the tragic case of Matthew Murray, a deeply disturbed young man who took a gun to a Youth With A Mission missionary training center and opened fire, killing four, then himself. Blumenthal tells how Murray grew up indoctrinated and abused by his charismatic Pentecostal parents, and how his attempts to break free of their programming led him first to the teachings of Aleister Crowley, then to drug abuse, and ultimately to a complete breakdown that led to the tragic shootings.

“Murray had been indoctrinated so thoroughly into charismatic Pentecostal culture, however, that even while he railed against his religious upbringing, he could not abandon his ingrained attraction to religiosity. So instead of fleeing hardcore Christian culture for secular humanism, a natural position for jaded skeptics like him, he traded his former faith for Crowley’s occultism. Crowley’s philosophy of sex “magick,” narcotic hallucination, and self-degradation (he allegedly ordered his followers to have oral sex with goats and drink the blood of cats) was forged in reaction to his parents’ Puritanism and, in fact, was first practiced in English boarding schools, where homosexual experimentation was practically de rigueur. Crowley became Murray’s new lodestar. Like Jesus, who was so impressed by the ardor of a pagan Roman centurion whom he met that he remarked, “I have not found such great faith, even in Israel,” Murray yearned for spiritual practice in its purest form. Now he practiced Crowley’s faux faith as fervently as his parents wished he had worshipped their neo-evangelical macho Christ. But the occult only led Murray into a confusing new world of cheap thrills.”

I find it interesting that Blumenthal, in damning extremist Christianity, feels the need to misrepresent Aleister Crowley, and by implication, to insult anyone who leaves Christianity for an occult practice instead of the “natural” choice of secular humanism. He ultimately blames an abusive Christian upbringing for Murray’s descent into madness, and rightfully criticizes attempts of Christian apologists to paint this as an “occult” or “Satanic” attack, but couldn’t avoid his own preconceived notions concerning what the O.T.O. and the philosophies of Aleister Crowley are truly about. In his failure to hide his disdain for an occult practice he doesn’t understand, to paint it as a sign of illness, he sounds more like the Christians he criticizes than he would most likely care to admit.

SF Gate’s In Marin blog profies Cerridwen Fallingstar on the publication of her new book “White as Bone Red as Blood, The Fox Sorceress”, a book that is “based” on Fallingstar’s past life in 12th century Japan.

“The first book, which was released in 1990, was based on Cerridwen’s past life as a Scottish witch in 16th-century Scotland.   It took a full fifteen years before she released her current book, White as Bone, a compelling read about a sorceress in the royal palace in Japan during the mid-1100s. Why so long? Cerridwen says it takes a long time to cultivate the memories and even longer to do the research.  She says she is able to enter a trance, summon the memories and put them to tape. After transcribing them, she’ll research them by conventional means; by reading as much as she can find on that particular time in history, and by visiting the locales.”

Will this new book find favor within the Pagan community? Are past-life accounts still popular, or have we grown more skeptical of such things in the twenty years since Fallingstar’s last book? I guess we’ll find out. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about Cerridwen Fallingstar and order a copy of the book, click here.

The Odinist group that was kicked out of a public park in Bakersfield, California say they are filing a lawsuit with the ACLU against the North of the River Parks and Recreation Department.

“Roger Perez, NOR public relations director, said, “I believe there was a claim that the religion was being disrespected, and we take those types of claims seriously. But in our internal investigation, that wasn’t believed to have been said, was not said, by our deputy. And unfortunately, I think it just got blown out of proportion.” But the Odinists were not satisfied. They began the process to file a civil lawsuit with the ACLU which is considering whether to take the case.”

So it looks like this one will most likely be going to court. The KERO 23 story also includes the two 911 calls from neighbors that brought the police to the scene, one of which sounds confused about what exactly is going on, and another that alleges they were shouting “white power” to non-white passerby. The Odinist group has denied that they are a racist organization.

In a final note, with Autumn on its way we are quickly approaching the Halloween/Samhain season, and that means reality television programs are skulking about Salem looking for a willing Witchy participant. This time the  snarky fashion show “What Not to Wear” (on the increasingly misnamed TLC network) has its sights set on Salem shop co-owner Leanne Marrama.

“TV fashion gurus Stacy London and Clinton Kelly were in Salem filming an episode of their show, in which they stage weekly style interventions on a victim of bad fashion. Leanne Marrama, a member of Salem’s witch community, was in their sights yesterday. Dressed in a black gown with wide lacy sleeves, a black corset, black combat boots and a black purse with a skull, Marrama is set for a complete fashion, hair and makeup makeover.”

Also in the program will be Marrama’s friend and business associate Christian Day. While I’m sure many Pagans in New England have at times wished the more flamboyant Salem Witches would get a makeover, I don’t think this is what they had in mind. Shows like this aren’t laughing with us, they are producing content so that people can laugh at us (not to mention imposing a more rigid idea of “normalcy” concerning dress and appearance).

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

Aratkis and Foxfire said pagans tend to keep their beliefs under the rug where society cannot see them, lest they be treated like pariahs. “A lot of times they’re afraid of us – you know, we ‘worship the devil’ – but we don’t worship the devil,” Foxfire said. “We don’t sacrifice animals to small children. A lot of that is TV.” … “You go up north, and they are having huge pagan festivals with thousands of people,” Foxfire said. “Down in the Bible Belt here, a lot of people practice, but they do it privately.”

Meanwhile, way up north in Canada, Pagans are less anonymous, but immature reporters are disappointed when they aren’t bombarded by Pagans engaging in some sort of imaginary Harry Potter-esque version of Wicca.

“When I first visited Chinatown’s Fan Tan Alley, I half expected the tiny, foreboding laneway to require a certain stone-tapping entrance ritual, akin to that of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. OK, OK, fine, I admit it. I didn’t “half expect” it to ask for a magical pass code — I totally hoped it would.”

It is perhaps one of the truly disconcerting things about being a Pagan here, in some places they would try to drive you out, and in others they are trying to recruit you for reality television shows.

“I am a casting producer for ABC’s “Wife Swap” and we are looking to feature a Wiccan or Pagan family on the show. If you are interested or know someone that might be interested in the following opportunity, I’d love to hear from you.”

Then again, considering how reality television treats modern Pagans, maybe those differences aren’t so vast. But to return to my point, which is that the “mainstreaming” or “normalization” (for lack of a better term) of modern Paganism varies wildly depending on your geography. As impatient as I sometimes feel reading yet another rote “meet the Pagans” article in some local paper, I understand that these pieces do serve a purpose and are important in places like Odessa, Texas (less so in Victoria). Those of us who live in a Pagan-rich and tolerant community can often forget that our experiences aren’t repeated everywhere. That said, no matter how desperate you are to push us into the mainstream stay away from reality television, they’ll just make you look like an idiot. Seriously.

…we are casting for an upcoming episode of the award-winning series True Life. For this episode, we are looking for people who are in the process of converting to Wicca, or who have recently converted.  We are focusing on how parents deal with these changes, and how it affects relationships. People should email their situations to Parents@mtvnmix.com with their name, age, location, phone number, and recent photo of themselves I would really appreciate it.

If you are selected it looks like you’ll be worked into an upcoming episode entitled “I’m Clashing With My Parents”.

Are you clashing with your parents? Going against their wishes? Defying them even? Are you an Americanized teen growing up in a household with immigrant parents whose conservative cultural values are at odds with your modern viewpoints and lifestyle? Perhaps your religious beliefs are setting you and your parents at odds. Are you abandoning the beliefs they instilled in you as a child? Or is your deepening passion for faith and religion concerning your more secular-leaning parents? Maybe the conflict between you and your parents is a classic old disagreement over the guy or girl you’re dating. If you’re personally living through any of these scenarios, or an equally compelling conflict with your mother & father, we’d like to hear from you. MTV is working on a new episode of “True Life” that will explore the impact on young adults, and their families, when grown children challenge their upbringing and defy their parents.

If that sounds like a program you’d like to be a part of, be my guest. But caveat emptor: while True Life has tackled serious subject matters and won some awards for their work, they also have a suspiciously high number of programs that deal with nudity, partying, the sex industry, porn, people wanting more sex, and people who’ll do anything for money. So this isn’t a serious sit-down with PBS, don’t be surprised if things get edited to be more dramatic than they really are.

I have come to see the serious failings of the Wiccan faith. A major problem with the faith is that there is no unity among the followers of the faith which makes it very challenging to define exactly what Wiccans do and do not believe in. Wiccans have a very open “do what you will” or “live and let live” perspective in life which very easily can cause harm to oneself and others without one actually knowing it until it is much too late. Additionally, there is no unified moral code of ethics. This puts up huge red flags for society-at-large because no one can really be quite sure of what any group’s intentions are. Society would have no way of knowing, for example, if you are a Wiccan that practices the Great Rite or polyamory, to name only two examples. Also, they would have no way of knowing just what “Do what ye will and harm none” means, and quite frankly, neither does each individual Wiccan. We are left to make moral and ethical decisions for ourselves rather than realizing that by human nature we are going to do anything that feels good to us, not what is best for us, and also not necessarily what is best for society as a whole. This makes for a very dangerous and faulty moral code of ethics. In addition, Wicca teaches primarily about how we can change the world and have all that we want. Spells, magick, etc. all prove to cause us to think selfishly instead of putting others before ourselves and more importantly instead of putting God before anyone else, including ourselves. It is very understandable that one would be close to nature and the earth, as well as, feel a need to call “God” the “God and Goddess;” however, the actual rote and complicated spells involved in Wicca can prove to be a huge distraction in one’s spiritual growth. We do not need all of the “ritual things” in order to have a relationship with God – all we need is a sincere and thankful heart.

While I respect the decision of any Pagan to leave for a faith or philosophy that better suits them, Hovey’s little rant to her followers seems to point to someone who wanted Wicca to be something other than it was, and didn’t really understand (or want to understand) the theology, morality, and practice of modern Paganism as it is. Perhaps her desire to shoehorn Wiccan practice into a congregationalist model, complete with sermons on Sunday and clerical collars, bespoke a long-standing desire to fully embrace Christianity. Now that she’s moved on, her new church is aiming to heal the wounds of “inequity from past religions”.

…helping people heal from their experiences of inequity from past religions and religious institutions, using Jesus Christ and his teachings in the Bible as the foundation of how to have a meaningful relationship with God, as well as, holistic health of mind, body, and soul.

Again, I wish Ms. Hovey well in her conversion and ministry, too bad her healing journey towards Christ had to begin by misrepresenting and bad-mouthing her former faith. She’ll no doubt be far happier in her new role, though I doubt it will get her the attention she sought while running a Wiccan church.

Witness the disembodied floating head of Silver! Spooky!

For those wanting to see some real live Witches on the big screen, you might want to head over to the 15th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival, and check out the Midwest premiere of the documentary “Hoopeston” (screening, coincidentally, on October 30th). The film, directed by Thomas Bender, looks at the struggling town of Hoopeston, Illinois, and the conflicts that emerged when Witch School (and the Correllian Tradition that runs it) moved in (check out my original post on this documentary).

After the Midwest premiere, Synydyne will start selling DVDs of the film. They have a mailing list you can sign up for to be notified when copies are available. As for the Witch School folks, they’ll be in Salem teaching free classes through November 1st.

So whether you want to attend a movie out (in the greater Chicagoland area), or stay inside and curl up on your couch (if you have cable television), you’ll be able to gage how far forward (or back) depictions of modern Pagans have come since the days of fog-machines, strobe lighting, and the morning talk-show circuit. Happy viewing!
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/10/watching-witches.html/feed 7 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/09/you-cant-visit-salem-without-including.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/09/you-cant-visit-salem-without-including.html#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:35:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/09/you-cant-visit-salem-without-including-some-witches.html The new game show “Opportunity Knocks” premiers tonight on ABC, and an upcoming episode will feature a segment where contestants will have to pick “which Witch is a Witch”. Why? Because the traveling game show was shooting in Salem.

Laurie Cabot

Considering how (in)famous Laurie “official Witch of Salem” Cabot is in Salem, it was probably an easy question to answer. I can’t wait to see how the “ringers” were dressed. No doubt this particular episode will be airing sometime in October.

Speaking of Laurie Cabot, she is apparently fending off some controversy after unintentionally posting some alarmist information concerning the Large Hadron Collider. It seems her assistant was having problems with Google that day.

“I wanted people to be informed about the experiments and sadly what we ended up posting was a very one sided alarmist position which was not what I intended and Google was not our friend this day either with the links it provided to my assistant.”

Meanwhile Cabot’s tradition (”The Cabot Tradition”) has initiated author Christopher Penczak and Sully “lead singer of Godsmack” Erna into their priesthood. I don’t know if they have formally changed their names, but the site now lists them as “Christopher Cabot Penczak” and “Sully Cabot Erna”. So congratulations to both of them.
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/09/you-cant-visit-salem-without-including.html/feed 6 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/08/reality-television-hits-new-low-if.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/08/reality-television-hits-new-low-if.html#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:13:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/08/reality-television-hits-new-low-if-thats-possible.html A wise man once said that there is a sucker born every minute. How else to describe the phenomenon of people eagerly lining up to be demeaned on reality television shows? I guess the promise of easy money and a fleeting amount of infamy is too much for some people to deny. Doubly saddening for me is those who place their faith up for mockery, abuse, and exploitation. It seems like madness. How else to describe the new UK television show “Make Me A Christian”?

“The Reverend George Hargreaves thinks Britain is in a state of moral decline and that a return to a more ‘Christian’ way of life would stop the rot. He and his team of mentors aim to show how by convincing a group of non-Christian volunteers to live by the teachings of the Bible for three weeks. In this three-part series, a group of volunteers from around Leeds in West Yorkshire give up their normal lives and attempt to live like Christians for three weeks.”

If you guessed they found a Witch (or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof) to be involved in this farce, you would be correct.

Take Fay, the occult lapdancer. George takes one look at her lifestyle (spangly bras and tarot cards) and announces she’s “on a trajectory to hell”. Sobbing, Fay slinks away to her boyfriend’s house for a few days of comforting. When she emerges later, George bollocks her for having sex outside marriage. “While the world might call it ‘making love’,” he says, “the Bible calls it fornication.”

No prizes for guessing what George “founder of The Christian Party” Hargreaves does with her “occult” possessions.

“The lap-dancing manager is discovered to have more than a passing interest in witchcraft and magic – her books and ceremonial paraphernalia are taken away.”

Shocking, of course, but I try to remember that Fay willingly signed up for this indoctrination boot-camp. One wonders how far Witches and Pagans have to go down this road before we collectively realize how toxic these programs are and refuse to be the playthings of television producers. As for the “Christians” involved, it seems that their savior isn’t Jesus Christ, but Mammon. Their pride and vanity ensures that this is the only reward they shall receive.

Speaking of Witches and reality television, Australian show “The One: The Search for Australia’s Most Gifted Psychic” has picked a “winner”.

“Charmaine Wilson edged out Ezio De Angelis and Amanda Rousetty to take out the prize which was decided by audience vote. She promised to represent the spirit world and the psychic community as best she can.”

The Witch contestant, Shé D’Montford, didn’t make it to the final round. Perhaps the gods were sending a message? You can listen to interviews with all the contestants, and the judges, at the Ghost Radio site.
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/08/reality-television-hits-new-low-if.html/feed 4 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/07/return-of-revenge-of-witches-on-reality.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/07/return-of-revenge-of-witches-on-reality.html#comments Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:27:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/07/the-return-of-the-revenge-of-witches-on-reality-television.html Hard to believe its been nearly a year since I had to post about modern Pagans appearing in a trashy reality television program! I should have known that the siren-call of money and fame/infamy would be too much for some in our extended community to miss. This time its an Australian program entitled “The One: The Search for Australia’s Most Gifted Psychic”, a game show/reality television program in the vein of “America’s Got Talent” or “Hell’s Kitchen”, only with psychics.

The host and contestants of “The One”.

So this spoon-bending Survivor already has one Witch as a contestant, but we get a double-dose this time around, because one of the two judges is a Witch too!

“Using the good cop-bad cop formula loved by reality TV, two judges – Richard Saunders, vice-president of the Australian Skeptics, and Stacey Demarco, a practising witch and author – decide each week who stays or goes until three contestants are left. The winner will be chosen by a public vote … Stacey Demarco, who teaches metaphysics and has written books on how to apply witchcraft in the boardroom and the bedroom, is the believing panellist. “I’m a rational type of expert, I’m not the purple tie-dye type of witch. I just want people to come into this with a really open mind. It’s not a circus act or an act of any kind. “The contestants are normal people, they’ve got husbands, wife, kids, pets, a house in the suburbs and they are considered weirdos, freaks, satanists just because they have these abilities.” Only a couple of episodes have been shot but, Demarco says, the show lives up to its billing that it will make “hairs stand up on end”.”

So who is Stacey Demarco? Well, she authored two books for Llewellyn, “Witch in the Bedroom: Proven Sensual Magic”, and “Witch in the Boardroom: Proven Business Magic”, was initiated as a solitary Witch (though I’m not sure what she means by that), and has a background in PR and marketing (which most likely explains how she got this gig). Demarco’s role marks something of a step up for Pagans in reality television, from mere entertainment fodder to playing a role in the selection/elimination process. Of course the larger question is if modern Pagans should be participating in the vapid, soulless, and cheapening reality television market in the first place.

While shows like “Wife Swap” and its ilk have portrayed Wicca and modern Paganism as bizarre lifestyle choices (instead of, say, a serious religious faith), “The One” will most likely portray Witchcraft as an enhancement/byproduct of possessing psychic powers (though I suppose I could live in hope…). Neither of these approaches does much to broadcast an accurate picture of our family of faiths, or give insight into the fact that we worship multiple gods, have our own holidays, and are (generally speaking) rather pedestrian in our lifestyle choices and attitudes. The saddest thing is that every time our faiths get run into the ground on one of these programs, there is always another Witch or Pagan out there who thinks “I’ll be different”. To them I say, no one is more powerful than the video editors, those great powers who decide which of your words to emphasize, and actions to highlight.

I suppose there is always the chance that this program will be different. But I’ve been down this road before, and don’t hold out too much hope that our faiths won’t be trivialized for the sake of entertainment. To my readers in Australia, keep an eye on this show (which premieres on Tuesday) and fill me in on how it is. Who knows, maybe we’ll all get lucky for a change.
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/07/return-of-revenge-of-witches-on-reality.html/feed 11 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/07/more-reality-pagans.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/07/more-reality-pagans.html#comments Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:49:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/07/more-reality-pagans.html Ah reality television, that fly trap for those who think they should be famous but lack any appreciable skill for achieving those goals on their own. This insatiable Warholian industry thrives on dysfunctional and driven personalities who lack the self-awareness that they are merely fodder for an increasingly indifferent viewing audience. Sadly, our faith community has been hard-hit by this faux-reality spectacle, and many are the appearances of these often ill-prepared spokespeople for our faiths. So it should surprise no one when I tell you that yet another Pagan has entered the fray.

David from the British version of the “Big Brother” show.

I think the whimsical eye-makeup and leopard-print scarf is a nice touch don’t you think? Gives an air of the “exotic” to modern Paganism. This isn’t the first time that the British reality program Big Brother has put a Pagan into the mix, but she didn’t last long. So it remains to be seen if David’s powers of prediction will hold true and he’ll join the main household for more than just a visit. This latest Pagan appearance all feeds into my theory that Pagans and Witches (especially Witches) have become just another stock character for those casting reality television. Which I suppose could mean that we have truly entered the mass-consciousness (and therefore the “mainstream”) of modern culture.

For some better news (at least in my opinion) concerning television and paganism, they have finally released a complete DVD set of the classic 70s television show “Isis”.

“The live-action show, created as a glamorous complement to hunky Captain Marvel on “Shazam!,” featured gorgeous JoAnna Cameron as Andrea Thomas, a high school science teacher who went on an Egyptian archaeological dig and discovered an ancient amulet — which she kept, of course, like any good tourist — that gave her incredible mystical powers courtesy of the goddess Isis.”

Here is a refresher on YouTube in case you may have forgotten (or were too young to see it when it was on television). Look at all that majesty!
]]> http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/07/more-reality-pagans.html/feed 1 http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/02/checking-in-with-witches-next-door.html http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/02/checking-in-with-witches-next-door.html#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:14:00 +0000 Jason http://wildhunt.org/blog/2007/02/checking-in-with-the-witches-next-door.html Last month I reported (skeptically) about a Wiccan family appearing on TLC’s new reality series “My Unique Family”. The episode, entitled “The Witches Next Door”, featured Rev. Kendra Vaughan Hovey, elder high priestess of Duxbury’s First Church of Wicca, and her family as they struggled with their day-to-day life. The episode in question aired on Monday, and feedback from Pagans who watched the show has been appearing in the blogosphere. Surprisingly, it seems that the Hovey family acquitted themselves well, and that TLC didn’t pull any of the usual reality-television dirty tricks.

The Hovey Family: Kendra, Tim, Alana, and Alec

“I have to say that I was pleased beyond my wildest expectations. It was a fair and honest portrayal of the Wiccan faith. It was a fair and honest portrayal of an American family who just happens to follow a faith that is outside the societal norms. It showed the good and the bad (each child expresses feelings of being “left out” because of how busy their mother is with her with her congregation responsibilities).” – Mama Kelly, A Blog of Two Witches

“I was really presently surprised though! The family was as normal as can be, the father was an IT consultant and the mother ran the First Church of Wicca in her town and was a full-time mom. Take away the pentacle and she could have been any religious minister. They are raising their two children in the Wiccan path but they also are prepared to let them walk their own path if they so choose.” – Jaspenelle Stewart, Graceful Symmetry

More reviews of the episode can be found, here, here, here, and here.

In reading over all the reviews I have found so far, it seems the main criticism of the show is aimed at Rev. Hovey’s insistence on constantly wearing a Christian clerical collar everywhere she went no matter what she was doing. But aside from that issue, the feedback seems generally positive. So congratulations to the Hovey family for winning the reality television lottery*, a positive portrayal of a modern Pagan faith in one of the most sensationalist formats ever invented.

*Like winning the lottery, the chances of another Pagan family experiencing the same treatment is on par with being struck several times by lightning on a clear day while taking a walk. So remember my semi-official guideline for Pagans and reality television, if it isn’t Oprah (or TLC I guess), just say no.
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