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

SF Weekly interviews Sister Edith Myflesh from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and discusses the group’s popularity, charity work, religious diversity, and what real-live nuns think of them.

“…the sisters have no affiliation to any one creed. Some are pagan, some Jewish, even some practicing Catholics. Despite the church’s stance that the order “mocks” women who’ve taken traditional religious vows, Sister Edith swears the nuns she’s met have been nothing but supportive. “They get what we do,” she says, explaining that the tasks of the female clergy – caring for the sick, raising money for charity – have a lot in common with the sisters’. And like parishioners going to confession, Sister Edith has found that people blurt out the most personal things to a member of the order in full makeup. “When we look like that, we’re not human anymore. We become mirrors for people to project onto,” she says, recalling the times she’s given relationship advice to strangers.”

More subtle hints that as religion becomes ever-more female dominated boundary maintenance and the castigation of blasphemers will slowly lose its importance, replaced instead with a more pragmatic stance regarding the usefulness of holy fools?

Over at his Beliefnet blog, Gus diZerega gives a three-part argument (part one, part two, part three) against a “Pagan clergy”. In his final installment, diZerega argues that completely severing matters of faith and religion from government control (marriage, military, prison chaplaincy) will serve us far better than trying to construct an institutionalized clergy model.

“To sum it up, as our numbers increase we will need a larger professionally trained group of Pagans who can do some of the kinds of counseling work that Christians do through their clergy.  But we do not need that kind of institutionalized status to do it, and our traditions and the core of who we are will be safer if we do not seek it  We are on much safer ground to invoke the issue of religious freedom, now that we are widely recognized in the courts and among many religious leaders as a legitimate spiritual practice.”

DiZerega seems to assert that Pagan religious leaders should stick to ritual, rites of passage, and teaching, while other Pagans should pursue academic experience in counseling and medicine (and I’m assuming, legal arbitration), avoiding the  (corrupting?) confluence of power and influence usually associated with the monotheist clergy/laity model. Indeed, according to diZerega, the entire modern concept of “clergy” can contaminate us in our search for mainstream respectability.

The lesbian-focused site Lez Get Real features a short e-mail conversation with Pagan author Deborah Blake concerning Wiccan and Pagan attitudes towards homosexuality.

“First of all, in answer to your question about homosexuality–in general, Pagans accept all paths, very definitely including homosexuality. My step-daughter is gay and a Pagan. In fact, many gays, lesbians and transgenders are attracted to Wicca and Paganism in part because it is such an accepting religion. There is absolutely nothing in our beliefs that says that alternative sexuality is bad, forbidden or in any way “lesser” than more conventionally accepted sexuality.”

Always nice to see more communication between the LGBT community with the modern Pagan community. While there are a variety of attitudes within different modern Pagan religions concerning LGBT-folk, I would say that the vast majority are fully accepting and welcoming to gays. Indeed, as I’ve pointed out before, gay marriage is very much a Pagan issue too.

Over at Letter From Hardscrabble Creek, Chas Clifton passes along the news that HBO’s “Rome” may rise again as a feature-length film.

“A feature version may be in the works to wrap up the unresolved plot strands of the award-winning HBO/BBC TV series Rome, which dramatised the dirty-politics underside of Rome’s transitional period from republic to virtual monarchy amidst civil war.”

As much as I enjoyed the series, I thought it went (historically speaking) off the rails towards the end of its second season. I mean, they couldn’t even give poor Cicero his famous last words! Still, the sets were fantastic, and the religious elements engaging, so I suppose I’d fork over the cash to see a big-screen version should it actually come about.

In a final note, if you want to know how hard it really is to uncover Pagan news on a daily basis, check out the Pew Forum’s examination of religious news coverage in 2008.

“Throughout much of 2008, the media generally seemed to follow two patterns in its coverage of religion. First, religion reporting was often episodic, clustering intensely around big events such as the pope’s visit and religion stories related to the 2008 holiday season. Religion stories also faded quickly from the headlines. Second, the angle of religion coverage frequently gravitated toward controversies, such as Barack Obama’s relationship with Jeremiah Wright and stories about the clergy sex-abuse scandal that surfaced during the pope’s visit. This was particularly problematic for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, who were inundated with questions concerning their faith.”

All in all, only 1% of mainsteam media coverage focused on religious news (on par with education, immigration, and race), and nearly 40% of that centered on the Pope’s visit to America. Considering the huge impact faith and religion have on the world, you would think it’d be a bit higher. If it weren’t for the Internet, blogs, and Google scouring every online news source, I doubt we’d hear much at all concerning minority faiths.

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

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

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

The ‘Natale di Roma’ includes parades, fireworks, banquets, and gladiator shows. For more information check out this Italian web site devoted to the holiday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indeed, nothing is as easy as it seems.

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

The Oregonian reviews a brand new book by Ursula K. Le Guin that explores the perspective of Lavinia (daughter of Latinus, wife of Aeneas) from Virgil’s “Aeneid”. Giving a feminine perspective to the male-centric Roman epic.

“Lavinia, an 18-year-old princess in “The Aeneid,” Vergil’s 2,000-year-old epic poem about the origins of Rome, gets little attention from Vergil as a background figure. He gives her not a single speech in his shimmeringly melodious, 10,000-line poem, despite that she is daughter to King Latinus, who rules the region; that multitudes of men die over who should marry her; and that her eventual marriage is crucial to the founding of Rome. The book “Lavinia” (Le Guin’s 56th!) repairs Vergil’s lapse and is also a loving tribute to the poet. It’s an earthy retelling of the last six books of the 12-book poem, told from the point of view of Lavinia herself.”

According to the review, Le Guin explores her “rich, pagan life”, and brings a feminine “balance” to Virgil’s work while avoiding outright revisionism. A work on par with Robert Graves’s “I, Claudius”, according to Publishers Weekly.

In an interview with Le Guin about the work, the author explains that she isn’t trying to improve on Virgil, merely telling tales he didn’t have time to get to.

“Virgil didn’t have time for little Lavinia,” Ms. Le Guin says. Virgil died in 19 B.C. and many scholars believe he still planned to do some work on the Aeneid. “I didn’t feel I was correcting Virgil, but here was something he didn’t have the time to do, and I did.”

“Lavinia” promises to be an interesting exploration of the early mythic history of Rome. You can read an excerpt of the book, here.

While America is distracted by the Pope’s visit, the Christian Broadcasting Network (home of Pat Robertson’s “The 700 Club”) spotlights the growing popularity of exorcisms in Italy (a topic I’ve touched on before).

“In this predominantly Catholic nation the devil is gaining a foothold. “There is a greater openness towards the devil,” Rev. Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist, said. In fact, Rome has been called the most ’satanized’ city in Italy. “Satanism and the occult are in fashion,” said Father Pedro Barrajon, a professor of theology.”

None of this rhetoric is new or unusual (indeed, the good Rev. Amorth seems willing to talk to any news outlet that will give him the time of day), but what did draw my eye was an un-sourced statistic thrown out by the CBN reporter.

“There are an estimated 800 satanic cults operating in the country, with more than 600,000 followers. And their numbers are growing.”

Over half a million Satanists? Really? That seems like an awfully big number. To get some perspective, I checked in with theistic Satanist Diane Vera’s web site, where a whole section has been devoted to Satanic panic in Italy. According to Vera, these high numbers may be including Satanists, occultists of all stripes, Pagans, psychics, and other “heretical” individuals (teenage metal heads, for example).

“Among Christians, including Catholics, an increased emphasis on demons and exorcism leads inevitably to an increased fear of all non-Christian spiritual practices … All the “We’re not Satanists” disclaimers in the world will not stop conservative Christians from associating non-Christian spiritualities – especially the more “magical” spiritualities – with demons and/or with Satanism. Even in the eyes of those relatively few conservative Christians who are well-informed about the beliefs of Pagans, occultists, etc.”

This view is backed up by the blog Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, who dug into census data and found that there were only 240 or so “organized” Satanists (as of 2003).

“Therefore, despite the many more relevant numbers often supplied by mass media – those who propose such numbers should, of course, be capable of supporting their statements with evidence as far as we can see from the numbers right now – the groups of organized satanists only represent an insignificant percentage of the Italian population even if, of course, the experience lived can be extremely hard for the people involved. The organized satanism is therefore a phenomenon that is often overrated, as a matter of fact, it concerns only a few thousands of people all over the world.”

Taking all this into account, it becomes clear that exorcisms aren’t simply a tool against “demonic possession”. No heroic Father Merrin casting out the demon in little Regan. Instead, we have a struggle against all forms of non-Catholic thought. If you embrace a theology outside the bounds of the dominant monotheisms, or simply want to divorce your Catholic husband, you are demon-haunted and ripe for spiritual torture-tactics.

“Typical cases, he said, include people who turn away from the church and embrace New Age therapies, alternative religions or the occult. Internet addicts and yoga devotees are also at risk, he said.”

The rhetorical slight-of-hand that turns all non-Catholic thinking into demon-possession hasn’t escaped the notice of Pagan groups around the world, who condemn this new commitment to “curing” people who may simply be happier as Pagans.

So while Benedict XVI makes nice at an inter-religious gathering in America, those under his purview continue to ignore his wish to “discuss our differences with calmness and clarity”, and instead label anyone in Rome rejecting Christianity as “Satanists”. But then, perhaps Benedict’s call for “sincere dialogue and cooperation” was only extended to the religions big enough to be invited to the party. Pagans, Heathens, and assorted polytheists, on the outs since the time of Theodosius, need not apply.

Professor, poet, and academic Robert Fagles passed on Wednesday, March 29th, from prostate cancer. Fagles is best known for his masterful translations of Homer’s epics the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Robert Fagles

“He was a quiet man, diligent and decorous, yet one who was unexpectedly equal to the swagger and savagery of Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ in a way no one had managed before him,” – Princeton humanities professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon

Robert Fagles’ contribution to translations of Greek and Roman classic literature and poetry can’t be understated. His translations of Homer sold over 4 million copies worldwide, and helped re-introduce the greatness of pre-Christian epic poetry to a new generation.

“Homer gave me new modes of expression, but I wanted to capture as much of him as I could, making him available and, with luck, compelling to a modern audience. I set the same task for myself when I translated Aeschylus and Sophocles.”

His most recent translation was Virgil’s Aeneid, released in 2006, a project he wasn’t sure he would be able to finish due to his cancer. When released, Fagles called it “unexpectedly timely and relevant”.

“It says that if you depart from the civilized, then you become a murderer … The price of empire is very steep, but Virgil shows how it is to be earned, if it’s to be earned at all. The poem can be read as an exhortation for us to behave ourselves, which is a horse of relevance that ought to be ridden.”

For any Pagan who has taken inspiration from the classics, Fagles performed a great service. May his virtuous soul find rest and joy on the Elysian fields.

The Sun Chronicle highlights Joel Relihan, a Wheaton College classics professor, who recently finished the first new American English translation of The Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius (aka The Golden Ass) by Apuleius in forty years.

“Spending more than a year reading a book word by word tested the patience of Joel Relihan, a Wheaton College classics professor. The end result was the first American English translation of a certain Latin classic in about 40 years … Set in the second century A.D., the story follows a young man whose fascination with witchcraft results in his transformation into a donkey, Relihan explains. The donkey spends a year trying to get the antidote to the spell. Although unfamiliar to most readers, the story is considered one of the “big name Latin classics,” Relihan says.”

“The Golden Ass” is famous for being the only intact full-length Latin novel to survive from ancient Rome to the present day, and equally famous within modern Pagan circles for the speech the goddess Isis gives to Lucius (trapped in the form of a donkey due to meddling in Thessalian magic).

“All the perfumes of Arabia floated into my nostrils as the Goddess deigned to address me: ‘You see me here, Lucius, in answer to your prayer. I am Nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are.”

Isis’ speech (here translated by Robert Graves, and included in the essential “The Paganism Reader”) is thought by some modern Pagans and Pagan scholars to be a direct influence on the revival of religious Witchcraft in England, and prefigures many concepts found within today’s Goddess worship communities. A new, easily obtainable, English translation is certainly welcome so that a new generation of students and curious seekers can follow the exploits of Lucius, and hear the words of the Goddess.

You can find the new translation on Amazon.com, here, and audio excerpts of Joel C. Relihan reading from his translation, here.

Pope Benedict XVI has released his newest encyclical on the theme of Christian hope. Entitled “Spe Salvi” (saved by hope), the work muses on Christian salvation, redemption, and the role of prayer in Christian life, but it wouldn’t be Benedict (the artist formerly known as Cardinal Ratzinger) without inflating the triumphal claims of Catholicism at the expense of polytheist forms of religion!

“Paul reminds the Ephesians that before their encounter with Christ they were “without hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12). Of course he knew they had had gods, he knew they had had a religion, but their gods had proved questionable, and no hope emerged from their contradictory myths. Notwithstanding their gods, they were “without God” and consequently found themselves in a dark world, facing a dark future … Here too we see as a distinguishing mark of Christians the fact that they have a future… Myth had lost its credibility; the Roman State religion had become fossilized into simple ceremony which was scrupulously carried out, but by then it was merely “political religion”. Philosophical rationalism had confined the gods within the realm of unreality. The Divine was seen in various ways in cosmic forces, but a God to whom one could pray did not exist.”

There are quite a few problems with Benedict’s argument, a primary one is the confusion of mythological stories with the living and breathing religion being practiced at the time. The assumption that Roman polytheists had no hope for a pleasant afterlife, when in fact they had a systematic afterlife that included judgment, rewards, and punishments, and the characterization of Roman religious ritual as a clockwork obligation that had no belief or passion. The bugbear here for Benedict is the specter of “philosophical rationalism”, which along with relativism leads (in his view) to all manner of horrors, including the destruction of Christianity (and which, in his view, drained the life out of Roman polytheism).

Not that we should expect a fair hearing from the Pontiff, after all, this is the same Pope who claims that the Nazis were a “Neo-Pagan” invention, and not a product spawned from centuries of Christian antisemitism. Having said that, there were some other interesting things said in the Pope’s latest missive to the world, including some words on prayer that won’t make certain evangelical Christians very happy.

“He emphasized that prayer should not be isolating and should not focus on superficial objectives. Nor can people pray against others, he said. “To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness,” he said.”

It seems very likely that he is pointing his finger at prosperity gospel folks and certain stripes of “prayer warriors”, who “target” people of influence with prayer. It should be interesting if any reporters pick up on this jab at non-Catholic forms of Christianity. As for the Pope and Paganism, you would think that a man as learned as Benedict would hesitate to create religious straw-men to bat down. There are plenty of valid criticism of polytheistic systems, but portraying Roman polytheists as without hope and “lost” to nihilistic darkness is petty and untrue.

My Chemical Wedding: “Chemical Wedding”, the film about Aleister Crowley written by Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson, has finished shooting and is now in post-production.

“…principal photography on Chemical Wedding, which was written by Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson and directed by Julian Doyle, has completed and the film is now in post … Simon Callow stars as a stuttering, shy professor who accidentally reanimates the spirit of famed Satanist Aelister Crowley, dubbed “The most evil man in Britain”, transforming into a charismatic, but seriously depraved, reincarnation of Crowley. He wreaks havoc among the students of the Cambridge campus he works for.”

Judging by the poster, I dare say that “havoc” may include some gratuitous nudity (perhaps even inside an inverted pentacle). Not that Crowley, ever a lover of controversy, would necessarily disapprove (though considering Crowley’s open bisexuality, one hopes it is equal-opportunity nudity).

As for the quality of the finished picture, we’ll have to wait and see. Who knows? Perhaps Aleister Crowley will become a new cinematic villain/antihero spawning scores of “Chemical Wedding” sequels. For my original post of this project, click here.

The Cave of Romulus: It looks like Cambridge classics professor Mary Beard isn’t the only one skeptical about the veracity of a site in Italy that some are claiming to be the Cave of Romulus (aka the Lupercal). Adriano La Regina, Rome’s superintendent of archeology from 1976 to 2004, says he is certain that this grotto isn’t the site of the mythical founder’s cave.

“La Regina … said ancient descriptions of the place suggest the Lupercale is elsewhere – 50 to 70 metres northwest of the cave discovered near Emperor Augustus’ palace. “I am positive this is not the Lupercale,” Mr La Regina told Reuters in an interview. Instead, he believes the cave – which ministry pictures show is decorated with well-preserved seashells and coloured mosaics – was a room in Nero’s first palace on the Palatine Hill, which burnt down in 64 AD in the great fire of Rome.”

Interior view of the grotto.

La Regina was also quoted as saying that this is still an important find, even if it isn’t the Lupercal, due to the well-preserved state of the site (which he believes was a nymphaeum used to entertain guests). No word yet from the Italian Culture Ministry, who said they were “reasonably certain” this was the Lupercal. You can read my original post on this subject, here.

The international press has been buzzing over an archaeological find in Italy that some believe is the cave of Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Romulus, along with his twin brother Remus were the sons of Rhea Silvia (descendant of Aeneas, and possibly a former forest goddess) who bore the twins after being raped by the god Mars (one of the principal Roman deities, and very different from his Greek counterpart Ares).

Rhea Silvia, a sworn virgin priestess, was sentenced to death, but her twins were rescued and set adrift on the river Tiber where they eventually took shelter in the cave of the she-wolf Lupa, who nursed them. Ever after, the cave (called the Lupercal) was a sacred place to the Romans and the starting point for the major festival of Lupercalia. But has the legendary cave really been found? Italian experts seem fairly certain its the right place.

“Presenting the discovery, Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said archaeologists were “reasonably certain” that the newly unearthed cave could be the Lupercal. “This could reasonably be the place bearing witness to the myth of Rome, one of the most well-known cities in the world – the legendary cave where the she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, saving them from death,” he said … The ancient cave was found 16m (52ft) underground in a previously unexplored area during restoration work on the palace of Augustus, the first Roman emperor.”

Interior view of the cave.

But some aren’t so certain, including Cambridge classics professor Mary Beard. Beard fears the Italians may be rushing to judgment in their haste to find the legendary spot.

“What has been discovered is a rather elegant underground cavern on the Palatine hill, with a nicely decorated vault, inlaid with seashells, mosaics and marble … The place is Roman all right, and it looks for all the world like one of those decorated underground grottoes that Roman toffs went wild about. But that doesn’t mean it’s the “Lupercal”, as the Romans called the cave where they thought the twins had been found by the wolf (lupa). The mysterious entrance is a problem for me. One thing we know about the Lupercal is that it was easily accessible. It was, for example, the starting point of one of the major – and strangest – rituals of Roman religion: the Lupercalia … So I shall be reserving judgment until I see a bit more of this grotto.”

Has one of the most important religious and cultural places in Rome truly been found? No doubt the passage of time will eventually reveal if this is the she-wolf’s cave (digging begins next year), or simply a random grotto.

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

We are saddened to report that Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, the musical and spiritual partner of Psychic TV founder Genesis P-Orridge, passed away on October 9th due to a previously undiagnosed heart condition.

“Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and her reactivated Psychic TV aka PTV3 are terribly sad to announce the cancellation of their November North American tour dates. This decision is entirely due to the unexpected passing of band member Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge. Lady Jaye died suddenly on Tuesday 9th October 2007 at home in Brooklyn, New York from a previously undiagnosed heart condition which is thought to have been connected with her long-term battle with stomach cancer. Lady Jaye collapsed and died in the arms of her heartbroken “other half” Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.”

A visual and conceptual artist, Lady Jaye spent more than a decade exploring the concepts of “pandrogeny” in which she and Genesis strove to become one being incorporating all sexes and sexualities. The P-Orridges and Psychic TV were instrumental in the development of music that explored occult concepts and imagery.

Several interesting stories have emerged that touch on environmental issues. In England, there is a plan developing to save Sherwood Forest, which is in increasing danger due to storms, forest fires, and vandals which are killing the ancient oak trees at an alarming rate.

“For the people who care for Sherwood Forest it is like a death in the family when one of the ancient oaks falls, a tragedy that is now becoming depressingly frequent. They used to lose an average of one a year, now it is usually five, and the rate is accelerating. The appalling calculation, which almost breaks the foresters’ hearts, is that in 50 years’ time the greatest collection of ancient oaks in Europe, many 1,000 years old and more, may be no more.”

The foresters hope to plant 250,000 oaks on 350 acres, in order to help preserve and protect the ancient oaks. The article also discusses the folkloric history of the forest, including tales of Robin Hood and Druidic rites.

Why are environmentalists like Al Gore and Wangari Maathai winning a prize dedicated to peace? According to Slate.com, sudden environmental shifts may be one of the biggest contributors to war and strife.

“I asked Maathai what reforestation had to do with ending conflict. “What the Nobel committee is doing is going beyond war and looking at what humanity can do to prevent war,” she answered. “Sustainable management of our natural resources will promote peace.” … The idea of a connection between conflict and climate change is fairly new, and one that had been mostly relegated to academic journals until earlier this year. Then, in June, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon went on record to suggest global warming as a cause for the fighting in the Darfur region of Sudan.”

More proof that everything is interconnected. A rise in temperature doesn’t only mean running your air conditioner more in the summer, it can mean drastically changing whole cultures and peoples, a point that is further explored in a column by Jodi Rave. Rave reports on how climate change is affecting the way indigenous populations struggle to live and interact with a quickly changing landscape.

“I was in Alta, Norway, as an invited speaker at an international indigenous journalists’ conference. Indigenous people – communities whose homelands have been invaded by colonizers yet still maintain distinct languages, cultures and customs – share common concerns, including a right to live off the land … But global warming is changing their landscape … In Alaska, sea ice is melting and the permafrost is thawing. Native Inuit villages are being destroyed … What will happen in Scandinavia and other parts of the Arctic when snow disappears little by little?”

Some indigenous groups are now working with scientists in order to understand and adapt to the changes, hoping to meld science with traditional wisdom.

As Samhain approaches, those hoping to save the Hill of Tara in Ireland from highway development are planning magical and symbolic actions to help raise awareness and stop the planned M3 expansion. The TaraWatch organization is raising funds to create a “protective light shield” around the historic spiritual and political center.

“Tara Light will consist of an elaborate light show with beams of white light illuminating Tara valley the home and source of the Celtic Halloween festival (the Celtic New Year), while a live radio broadcast will provide an audio backdrop to those viewing the event from Tara and others tuning in around the valley, surrounding area, Ireland and beyond … The objective of the lighting event is to show the positioning and significant quantity of sacred sites throughout the complex, in relation to the motorway route proximity and to show the importance of immediately halting the destruction to maintain the integrity, balance and beauty that has existed here for over 5000 years of history.”

Meanwhile, Celtic Reconstructionists from around the globe are planning rituals to help protect the site. A web site for the “I Stand With Tara” ritual is now up, and details are going to be posted soon.

Since I brought up Al Gore earlier in this post, I thought I would mention that Pagan author and pundit Isaac Bonewits is calling for magical action to urge Al Gore to run for President.

“As a Druid and as a priest of the Earth Mother I know how important it is to use both magical and mundane methods to draft Al Gore, kicking and screaming if necessary, to run. There is no other position from which he could have the power and influence he will need to push major American corporations, our national and state governments, and other nations of the world to take the drastic action that will be needed to avert the worst of the already tipped-over climate.”

Finally, the blog Tropaion links to a BBC documentary concerning “Togas on TV”, a look at how ancient Rome is viewed in popular culture.

“The question that the narrator asks is what is Rome for us today and how we conceive it, and whether or not that is right or wrong. Enjoy it, as I must confess I enjoy it, especially with the marvelous points by our Mary Beard.”

That is all I have for now, have a good day.