There’s good journalism and bad journalism, and then there are articles that simply bend your brain with how astoundingly far they travel from the fields of acceptable news-gathering. Tell me good readers, what comes into your mind when you read the following sentence.

“A Voodoo priest who was linked to the death of a young woman is coming to Wales to preach about his bizarre “religion”.”

That sounds horrible! Some woman-killing Voodoo priest teaching his “bizarre” faith in Wales?!?  But wait, there’s more…

“Wales on Sunday can reveal that mysterious Hector Salva – who compares voodoo to Catholicism – will be in Cardiff later this month to hold secret meetings about his faith.”

Secret meetings! Oh no! We have to… wait a second… did you say “Hector Salva”? I know that name.

“Authorities are awaiting results of a toxicology test to determine the cause and manner of Hamilton’s death, which has not been deemed suspicious. No charges have been filed, and Salva, who goes by “Houngan Hector,” said he is “100 percent confident” there was no wrongdoing on his part. Salva, soft-spoken and polite with a constant smile, said that no drugs were involved in the spiritual cleansing called the Lave Tet, but that small amounts of rum sometimes are consumed. “Maybe a sip,” he said, but he added that Hamilton had “passed on the rum.” …  “She was happy, very positive,” he said. “She seemed very fine as far as everyone knew.” What happened about 11 p.m., Salva said, is the same scenario he told dispatchers during a frantic 9-1-1 call. “She was taking a nap and we woke her up to see if she was hungry, and she was nonresponsive,” he reiterated yesterday. “We kept calling her name and she wouldn’t respond.” The other participants in the ritual could not be reached for comment. Salva declined to provide their names.”

In fact, the Wales on Sunday piece does grudgingly admit later on in the piece that New Jersey Vodou practitioner Hector Salva isn’t under suspicion for the woman’s death, and that the meetings are “secret” because the organizers are worried about “religious fanatics” (ie Christian protesters) gate-crashing the event.

“No charges are expected to be brought against Salva and police say they are not treating it as suspicious. But neighbours of Salva – who converted to being a voodoo priest in Haiti in 2003 – said there were often strange smells and foreign chanting coming from the house. Now Salva, whose followers call by his spiritual name Hougoun Hector, will be arriving in Wales to hold three clandestine gatherings in which he will talk about his religion. The location is being kept secret, as the organisers are worried religious fanatics might turn up and gatecrash.”

Well, if there weren’t any Christians looking to infiltrate and protest before, they may well want to now thanks to this article. Andrew Dagnell should be ashamed of this piece, littered as it is with half-truths, distortions, and moral judgements. Frankly, this horrible little article is an affront to good journalism. Is Wales on Sunday a gossip tabloid to allow such things to run? If Salva or Baron’s Magic (the shop sponsoring the talks) runs into trouble we’ll know who will be on our list to “thank” for it.

Ben Windham of the Tuscaloosa News travels to New Orleans to visit the tomb of Marie Laveau, perhaps the most famous practitioner/“Queen” of Louisiana/New Orleans Voodoo. He quickly discovers that Laveau’s tomb has become a bigger place of pilgrimage and offerings than any of the local Christian churches.

“In the more than 160 years since its construction, her tomb has become a shrine, a magnet more powerful than any in this city’s “legitimate” churches. Even visitation to the St. Roch chapel, with its astounding assortment of crutches, shoes and plaster casts of body parts, is eclipsed by the crowds of faithful or curious who come daily to Courtesy of Mary Angelyn Fisher. Offerings of candles, beads, coins, trinkets, tobacco, toys — almost anything you can imagine — are strewn in front of the tomb. Its sides are covered with crosses or X’s, usually in threes. Some are scrawled in red chalk.”

VooDoo in New Orleans, like Witchcraft in Salem, is a thriving tourist industry, so it is difficult to tell how many sincere adherents there are among the various hucksters and opportunistic hangers-on, but there must be a significant number if even a fraction of Laveau’s many offerings come from active practitioners. Then again, there seems to be a strong thread of belief (some would say superstition) in Laveau’s powers among the many “normal” visitors.

“I know one thing, however. I made sure that all of our offerings were left on Marie Laveau’s tomb and that we left with nothing that wasn’t ours. Years ago, I visited the tomb with a friend, a self-styled tourist guide. As we were leaving, I swiped one of the offerings from the grave — a blank piece of metal, the size of a coin. I figured it would make a good luck piece for Alabama’s football season. I don’t know if there was any direct cause and effect but I suffered for two years after I took that slug. I got cancer. I almost lost my job. And Alabama sports tanked. It has been only this year that I’ve dared to visit the tomb again. And this time, it was with a new — and profound — respect for Marie Laveau, voodoo queen of New Orleans.”

It would be interesting to know all the places of spiritual/religious pilgrimage in our country that step outside the Judeo-Christian norms. The ever-growing popularity of places like Laveau’s tomb seem to speak of a growing post-Christian (and post-secular) atmosphere where an organic process of reenchantment is taking hold. A process that seems to be allowing new and outsider faiths and customs to cement themselves within our cultural outlook.

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

The BBC Radio 4 program “Beyond Belief” devoted yesterday’s program to Witchcraft, ancient and modern, complete with unnecessary links by the host to the latest Harry Potter film.

“Ernie Rea and guests discuss the beliefs underpinning witchcraft. Do modern witches have anything in common with their forebears? And, have the Harry Potter books and films inspired greater interest in the craft?”

Among those interviewed are Christina Oakley Harrington of Treadwell’s bookshop in London, who handled the rather salacious questions of Ernie Rea quite well. You can listen to the program online, here.

Over at the Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog, Pagan panelist Starhawk weighs in on Jimmy Carter’s recent stand against the religious justifications for discrimination against women, pointing out a basic assumption prevalent through much of modern Pagan thought.

“Why does it matter if women can hold positions of responsibility and leadership in spiritual and religious life and communities? Many years ago, Mary Daly wrote: “If God is male, then the male is god.” That which is sacred to us is what we most deeply value and care about. It sets the pattern for what we value, all down the line. So if our only images of the sacred are male, and all positions of spiritual authority are held by men only, inevitably women will be devalued.”

One of the great disconnects between women (and men) attracted to various forms of Paganisms and the patriarchal monotheisms is the role of women. Despite our many flaws, feminine conceptions of the divine aren’t placed into a subordinate (or non-existant) role, and women are given full access to positions of spiritual leadership. This assures us that while we may take an occasional misstep, the institutional discrimination and devaluing of women won’t be among them.

In an update to a story I mentioned on Saturday, the Vodou priest at the center of a mysterious death during a cleansing ritual breaks his silence and speaks to the press.

“Authorities are awaiting results of a toxicology test to determine the cause and manner of Hamilton’s death, which has not been deemed suspicious. No charges have been filed, and Salva, who goes by “Houngan Hector,” said he is “100 percent confident” there was no wrongdoing on his part. Salva, soft-spoken and polite with a constant smile, said that no drugs were involved in the spiritual cleansing called the Lave Tet, but that small amounts of rum sometimes are consumed. “Maybe a sip,” he said, but he added that Hamilton had “passed on the rum.” …  “She was happy, very positive,” he said. “She seemed very fine as far as everyone knew.” What happened about 11 p.m., Salva said, is the same scenario he told dispatchers during a frantic 9-1-1 call. “She was taking a nap and we woke her up to see if she was hungry, and she was nonresponsive,” he reiterated yesterday. “We kept calling her name and she wouldn’t respond.” The other participants in the ritual could not be reached for comment. Salva declined to provide their names.”

The report also says that Hector Salva did contact Lucie Marie Hamilton’s mother (something friends of Lucie criticized him for not doing), and sent flowers to her funeral. Due to the firestorm of press, and negative speculation from neighbors, Salva is moving out of his current home to a new location.

In a less serious update to a previous post, the folks at Wookey Hole caves in Somerset, England have found their new professional full-time witch, Carole “Carla Calamity” Bohanan.

In the end, the judges opted for 40-year-old estate agent Carole Bohanan, of Shepton Mallet, Somerset. She will resign from her job and go by the name of Carla Calamity. Carole – or Carla – said: “I am going to be a great witch. All it takes is a little bit of magic and a little pizzazz. It’s a natural progression from my old job as an estate agent. I have been using my witching skills to sell houses for a long time.”

Bohanan apparently won over judges with a song about Wookey Hole and throwing candy snakes to the audience. While many “real” Witches seemingly applied for the job (you can see some pictures, here), there is no official word on if “Carla Calamity” is “one of us” as it were.

In a final note, Louis A. Ruprecht at Religion Dispatches ponders the Christian roots of the New Age movement, specifically “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ” by Levi H. Dowling. This 1908 publication set the stage for numerous trance-induced gospels to come and helped spark interest in the new idea of an “Age of Aquarius” to come.

“Among the papers Levi Dowling left at his death was one explaining his conviction that the Earth and our Sun were entering the Dispensation of Aquarius, a literal New Age. Aquarius is an air sign, he noted, and the triumphs of the twentieth century were destined to be aerial rather than watery. Think of the Wright Brothers; think of humanity’s first tentative steps into outer space.”

While the “New Age” is often thought to be something that smacks of Paganism (or Eastern mysticism), it’s good to remember that Christianity had a key role in the formation of the “New Thought”.

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

Now that I’ve safely arrived in the Pacific Northwest (the journey was only a little like this), unloaded my relocubes, and started the long and arduous process of unpacking my books, it’s time to resume my duties here at The Wild Hunt. I would first like to deeply thank all the wonderful folks who filled in at my blog while I was gone, they made my life much easier, and raised the bar for the writing on this blog in the process. I hope you’ll continue to follow their work at their own blogs and web sites. As for me, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, it’s amazing how much Pagan news you can miss in eleven days. So here’s a quick catch-up of some news of note that emerged during my sojourn.

Professor Ronald Hutton (author of “Triumph of the Moon”), scholar of modern Witchcraft, Druidry, and the English ritual year, has been named a Commissioner of English Heritage.

“The Minister for Culture has appointed Professor Ronald Hutton as the historian to sit on the commission that governs English Heritage. The commission has overall charge of the affairs of the official national body concerned with heritage, and its members act as statutory advisors to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (and so effectively to the government) in all matters that involve the understanding and conservation of England’s past. As such, the appointment carries with it a broader responsibility of acting as an advocate for the importance of history in national life. It will commence in October and last for four years with the possibility of renewal.”

Pagans for Archeology called the news “fantastic” and a “well-deserved honour”. To have such a sympathetic voice for the modern Pagan movement advising the government on England’s heritage could change the existing dynamic over issues of access and preservation for sites like  Avebury and Stonehenge.

Speaking of Ronald Hutton, he makes a brief appearance in a preview for a new documentary about Druids (ancient and modern) produced by the Holistic Channel (no doubt to be re-edited soon for a History Channel program).

This, among other recent developments we’ll get to in a moment, have really peeved off a British academic blogger who calls for more discrimination of modern Pagans (they must, in his mind, prove themselves worthy of “respect”), and resorts to quite a bit of name-calling. He also describes Ronald Hutton as Paganism’s “brain in a jar”, excusing the rest of us from developing critical thinking skills. I personally think my “intellectual depth and rigour” is doing just fine.

Before we leave the isle of Britain, I would be amiss in not noting the fact that there are now enough Pagan police to necessitate the formation of a Pagan Police Association, complete with time off for the various high-holidays (oh, and two official Pagan chaplains serving officers on the force).

“Most recently, the Pagan Police Association has been created, allowing police officers to explore their beliefs with other officers. Alongside this, in some forces, officers are being allowed the opportunity to move away from traditional Christian holidays. In practice this means that Pagan officers, rather like those from more mainstream faiths, can take their holidays on the dates which support their beliefs.”

Not everyone is happy about this, but the growing prevalence of Paganism in Britain seems unavoidable lately. Even the Scottish government has more Pagan civil servants than it does Jews, Sikhs, or Hindus. Maybe the British soul really is Pagan.

Turning our eyes back to the USA, specifically Philadelphia, sensationalism seems almost unavoidable in the case of a trans-gendered woman who died while at a three-day Vodou cleansing ceremony in New Jersey. While no charges have been filed, and no apparent wrong-doing has yet been discovered (nor did any harm come to the six other clients undergoing the same process), that hasn’t stopped the press from airing requests from friends of the deceased for “accountability” from “Houngan Hector” over the matter.

“Her friends there say they want answers and an apology from Salva, who goes by the name “Houngan Hector” on his Gade Nou Leve Society Web site. “I’m certain no one meant to hurt anyone, but she was in their care and there has to be some accountability,” said Randi M. Romo, executive director of the Center for Artistic Revolution, a Little Rock-based nonprofit agency for which Hamilton worked as a youth counselor. “They haven’t even contacted her mother.” No one answered at the door of the Loch Lomond Drive townhouse yesterday, and Salva, who claims he was initiated as a senior priest in Haiti, did not respond to e-mails for comment.”

Considering they may not know why she died, going around and taking responsibility for her death seems a little premature. Plus, with the press running headlines like “Voodoo became a fatal obsession”, and the health department and child services being called on them, I doubt the residents of that house are feeling like opening up. I wonder, if tests reveal that this poor woman died of a brain aneurysm, heart defect, or some other natural cause that had nothing to do with Vodou, will the Philadelphia Daily News vindicate Houngan Hector, or simply move on?

In a final note, for years many Pagans have been trying to separate themselves from the “New Age” label, but in an increasingly shifting economy and world, it looks as if  some New Agers, like The Edge editor Tim Miejan, want that seperation to happen too (much to the chagrin of some).

“Miejan favors articles on stress reduction and spiritual quests … But even Miejan’s open mind sometimes snaps shut. Channelers — people possessed by spirits of the dead — are out. So is the belief that reptile-like aliens have taken over the bodies of celebrities, including Queen Elizabeth and — according to one Web site — former Minnesota U.S. Rep. Bill Luther. Paganism? Out. “I am not saying that because paganism offends anyone,” Miejan said. “But it is a complete niche by itself.” Other New Age leaders are appalled. “He is excluding channeling? Yikes. Or pagans? He should not be doing that,” said Kathy McGee, editor of the Washington-state-based magazine New Age Retailer.”

Call it a result of the Oprah-fication of the New Age section, it’s all about personal growth (and “The Secret”) now, not Atlantean masters or Pagan gods. Those who want to keep Pagans (and Chiropractors, and organic farmers) under the “New Age” rubric are probably more concerned about a shrinking pool of markets to target, rather than if we truly belong with the newly-mainstreamed gurus of self-actualization.

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.

Thinking of holding a Pagan conference at a resort on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean? You might want to think twice. It seems the mere rumour of a “witchcraft conference” caused a huge controversy.

“The State-owned Radio St. Lucia first alerted listeners about the supposed meeting, when it claimed that witches from around the world were gathering here for the conference that would also involve members of the island’s elite. The radio station said that the conference had created “a media sensation” and that a local pastor, Anderson Cato of the Stream of Power Tabernacle, had condemned the authorities for allowing the gathering. “I think we have to consider what we allow ourselves to be exposed to as a people. There is a God and there are certain things that he is pleased with and others he can’t be pleased with.  In the Bible it is clear that God has spoken against witchcraft, sorcerery, adultery and sin,” Cato said. President of the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA) Anthony Bowen said while he was unaware of such a conference, the “witches” were within their right if they decided to meet in St. Lucia.”

The rumour-mill and finger-pointing caused loads of political strife and angry denials. So if you’re thinking of going to St. Lucia, you might want to tuck in that Pentacle/Hammer/Awen/etc necklace.

Canadian paper The Star lists Wicca, witchcraft, and Sybil Leek as selling-points for visiting the recently created New Forest National Park in Britain.

“It’s common knowledge that the forest is still home to Hedgewitches, women who continue their Wicca practices in a solitary way. Witches’ spells, the best-sellers in the local witchcraft shop, are made by local Hedgewitches. There was a time when Sybil Leek, a past resident of Burley and a well-known “white witch” of the 1950s, incurred the wrath of the locals when she started dressing like the more sinister variety of witch, which made her, uh, unwelcome with the superstitious locals. She moved to America where she had a long and successful career as an occult writer and restaurant owner.”

What, no mention of Dorothy Clutterbuck and the (in)famous New Forest Coven? The British tourism industry should put together a comprehensive “history of modern Witchcraft” tour ASAP.

A woman from Louisiana visits Portland, Oregon and finds that it isn’t so bad. Of special note in her sojourn in “Hippie Land” is an encounter with a Wiccan on a bus.

“…a pagan/Wiccan evangelist on the bus. He started his pitch with “Do you like my rose quartz?” while brandishing a crystal worn around his neck. He then told a young woman on the bus that his quartz held special “mother goddess powers” and asked if she believed in the mother goddess. The answer? A very awkward “kinda.” Can’t really argue with that.”

Wiccans! How exotic! How unlike the South! Well, except for the hundreds of Pagans from Louisiana, not to mention the thousands of Pagans living in the Southern states. In fact, the entire column seems less about Portland, and more about her defensive excuses for not recycling, and how bums in Louisiana know their place.

Should an unsanctioned Santeria ritual in a cemetary get you ten years in prison? A woman in Massachusetts sacrificed a rooster at an old grave and then set it on fire, prompting a call to the police. The Eagle-Tribune lays out exactly what she could face if prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“Officer Ariel Montas was sent to the scene and after an investigation arrested Portalatina, charging her with malicious damage to property over $250, animal cruelty, willful and malicious killing or poisoning of an animal, willful destruction of a gravestone and setting a fire in the open without the permission of the Fire Department. The malicious damage to property charge carries a penalty of up to five years in state prison, two and a half years in the house of correction, and a fine of not more than three times the value of the damaged property. The charges of animal cruelty, willful and malicious killing of an animal, and willful destruction of a gravestone each carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, two and a half years in the house of correction, and up to $5,000 in fines.”

Sacrifice a rooster, lose years of your life in prison? Yet another reason why we need a sane set of regulations and guidelines for those who want to engage in animal sacrifice.

In a final note, we take a look at the dark side of magic and religion. Authorities in Spain have broken up a Nigerian human trafficking ring that used Vodou to intimidate women in prostitution.

“The traffickers lured their victims with promises of a better life in Europe and took them to a voodoo priest before departure, the police said in a statement. The traffickers then smuggled them to Spain, where they told the victims they had to become prostitutes to repay a hefty debt for their journey or face the wrath of voodoo spirits. Musikilu Mojeed, a journalist for the Nigerian online newspaper 234Next.com who has written about voodoo and human trafficking, said voodoo, known in Nigeria as juju, was a fairly common tool of intimidation used by traffickers. Women were taken to a voodoo shrine and made to swear before a priest that they would never reveal the identities of the traffickers, he said. The priests took pieces of fingernails or hair from the women as part of the ritual.”

A reminder that pre-Christian, alternative, or minority religions are also capable of committing abuse and instilling terror. No faith is immune from human weakness or evil intentions.

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

Before we begin, I recommend playing this song in the background to experience the full effect of this blog post. I should also mention that I don’t own an Apple iPhone, and have no intention of purchasing one in the near future. So having said all that, let’s get into the topic at hand: is the Apple iPhone the new killer app for Pagan and occult practitioners? I don’t simply mean Pagans using them as script prompters during ritual, I mean using this hot tech item to cast spells, practice divination, and even curse your enemies.

The iPhone helps you manage your e-mail, listen to your music, stay connected, and—every now again—make a phone call or two. Now, with the assistance of two recent arrivals at the App Store, it can also help you master the dark arts. Oh, sure—VooDude bills itself as an entertainment app, but I think we can see through its facade. The app, from Aspyr Media lets you create your very own voodoo doll, which you can then poke with your finger, shake using the built-in accelerometer, or (virtually) set on fire. Aspyr calls Voo Dude a “stress relief buddy,” and I’m sure it’s all fun and games—until someone uses the app’s customization feature to create a VooDude who looks suspiciously like you. (You can use pictures from the image library on the iPhone or iPod touch to personalize your voodoo doll.)

What better way to focus your will than using a machine you already obsess over and use every day? The makers of VooDude should also include a healing extension for the program (band-aids, medicine, etc), imagine the boost in sales! Respond immediately to healing energy requests you get via e-mail on your iPhone! Brilliant! However, if poppets aren’t really your thing, there are also several divinatory tools available for the iPhone, from palmistry to several tarot-based programs (iTarot, Touch Tarot, Party Tarot). Also, you may never miss a high holiday again.

“Get quick offline information and forthcoming dates of all religious festivals. Religious festivals give us an opportunity to ignite cosmic love, mercy, generosity, selflessness, truthfulness and purity. Each festival, in its own way, pays tribute to all the enlightened beings and the pure inner love we nurture in our hearts. Major festivals of all religions including … Asatru  …Hindu …Wiccan”

That along with programs to help you along in your esoteric studies, keep track of moon phases, and brush up on classic esoteric texts, certainly positions the iPhone as an attractive piece of machinery for the aspiring techno-Pagan . I can only imagine the interactive possibilities once more Pagan programmers get to work. Maybe the iPhone has finally created a useful ritual (and lifestyle) tool for a truly modern Pagan population…. [soundtrack swells].

PS – In a fit of self-promotion (and speaking of swelling soundtracks), I should mention that the iPhone has access to all the podcasts listed in iTunes, which means you could subscribe to A Darker Shade of Pagan to provide the  perfect soundtrack for your modern Pagan lifestyle. I merely remark.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports on a resurgence of interest in Vodou among younger Haitian-Americans. Looking to reconnect with their cultural heritage, they are often drawn by half-remembered childhood memories of their parents and grandparents attending rituals and practicing Vodou.

It is hard to quantify the religion’s growth because Vodou is often practiced at home, said Elizabeth McAlister, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University, who has written extensively about Vodou. But research shows the religion is becoming more prevalent among well-heeled first and second generation Haitians, as well as people of various backgrounds, she said. Ruby LaCroix, 39, of West Palm Beach became intrigued by Vodou when she began to study Haiti’s history in college. She left Haiti when she was 8 years old and had questions about some of the traditions she grew up watching her grandmother practice. “I was looking to find out more about myself, about being Haitian and what that means,” she said.

One thing that I felt was striking about the article was the attitudes of these new practitioners. Much like the largely European-based modern Pagan faiths, there is an emphasis on fighting misconceptions, taking pride in their religious choices, and a slow shedding of insularity among practitioners.

Gone, for most, is the shame that used to be associated with the stigmatized religion. Unlike some of their parents who practiced Vodou in secrecy, the newcomers to the religion invite friends to Vodou ceremonies, have altars in their homes and work to shatter the stereotypes.

One wonders if a similar trend also manifesting among younger Hispanic, Latino, and Brazilian-American practitioners of Santeria, Candomble, and other related traditions, or if this is a uniquely Haitian-American phenomenon. Whatever the extent of this new interest in African diasporic faiths among younger people, it does seem to signal a willingness to step outside a purely Catholic/Christian identity among immigrants within a generation or two.

Ricardo Petit-Homme left Haiti when he was 4, and was raised a staunch Catholic. “From christening to penance and then confirmation, I did it all,” the 30-year-old interior decorator said. But not that long ago, he felt spiritually disconnected. He had dreams that needed to be interpreted, questions about his purpose and a burning desire to connect more deeply with his roots. He turned to Vodou.

It’s interesting that even younger Haitian-Americans who had no prolonged exposure to Vodou see that faith as a more genuine expression of their culture and roots than the Catholicism that is so dominant throughout the Caribbean. It is little wonder that I see Haitian Vodou (and other diasporic faiths) as a “cousin” to the modern Pagan faiths. There is so much overlap, not only in matters of theology and praxis, but in the motivations and attitudes of the newer converts. It should be interesting to see how this trend develops, and if we’ll see a gradual growth of networking, activism, and shared resources not only among the various African diasporic faiths, but with other religious minorities who have similar goals.

The Australian has an excellent article by Graham Lloyd about Vodun in West Africa. I was particularly taken with his description of how the faith intertwines with all aspects of day-to-day life in Benin.

In Benin, the birthplace of voodoo, from where it spread to Haiti and Cuba with the slave trade, elaborate drumming and dance rituals are still widely practised. They are tolerated by the post-Marxist Benin Government as well as by church leaders on the basis of a shared belief in a primary god. At the village level, the local Catholic priest will often visit his voodoo equivalent after mass to seek the help of voodoo gods to ensure a healthy congregation. Pregnant women would not think of going into labour without first seeing the oracle, the local Fa priest, who will foretell the outcome of the pregnancy by casting a string of cowry shells.

Lloyd also meets Legba at the crossroads, and receives healing aid for a friend from the Loa, which seems to go rather well. I recommend giving the entire article a read.

It’s time to turn to the troubled nation of Haiti, to examine a few stories concerning that country and the African diasporic religion that emanates from there: Haitian Vodou (one of modern Paganism’s religious “cousins”). First, Jennifer Kay of the Associated Press files a report of how Haitian practitioners of Vodou living abroad are balancing their spiritual obligations with sending financial help to their familes in a year that has seen continuing economic hardship and a series of tropical storms that have rocked the tiny island nation. November, usually a month for lavish celebrations, is decidedly more somber this year, and drastically scaled back as a result of these recent events.

“Hours before the “sacred carnival,” Josue and a handful of vodouisants gathered before a small altar to pay special homage to the nearly 800 storm victims and those killed in the Nov. 7 school collapse. He had expected at least 20 people for the daytime service. But many have reserved their extra cash to help relatives in impoverished Haiti. They told Josue they couldn’t afford the gas for driving to the outskirts of Miami twice in the same day. And when they came for the night service, they would wear the same black and purple clothes they had on last year, not being afford new things. “And there’s only one goat,” Josue said and sighed. In the past, many guests laid offerings on the altars adorned with decorative skulls in black top hats. This year, they spent what they could to honor the dead, while still trying to support the living, Josue said. ‘I don’t think the Gede [the spirits of the dead] will be offended,’ Josue said. ‘They will be concerned about the condition of the world, because they have a lot of work to do now.’”

Meanwhile in Haiti, a remarkable thing happened this weekend. Several gay and HIV+ Haitians outed themselves and marched in honor of World AIDS Day. Haiti, which is very socially conservative, is a dangerous place to be openly gay, and many gay men in Haiti avoid social programs for fear of harassment.

“Haiti has long fought stigmatization and discrimination after its migrants were some of the first AIDS cases identified in the United States. Unfounded beliefs that Haitians caused the epidemic helped decimate the country’s tourism industry. The country has since been a success story, with its HIV infection rate falling from 5.9 percent in 1996 to 2.2 percent today — due in part to programs like the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has given Haiti more than $320 million since 2004. The deaths of people with HIV also contributed to the decline. But gay men remain at risk because they hide from social programs due to prejudice and harassment, despite making up one-tenth of reported HIV cases in the Caribbean, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS reported.”

The gay men participating in the event proudly labeled themselves “masisi”, reclaiming a traditional Haitian slur for homosexuals. Pink News, who also reported on the story, noted that one of the few places that gays find acceptance in Haitian society is within Vodou.

“Haiti has one of the highest infection rates in the world and gay men and lesbians face stigma and homophobic attitudes, though the voodoo community is accepting of homosexuality.”

For more on Haitian Vodou and homosexuality, check out this this essay, and this Wikipedia page.

In a final note, a press release announces that Claudine Michel, chair and professor of black studies at UC Santa Barbara and director of the campus’s Center for Black Studies Research, has received the Haitian Studies Association Service Award.

“The award recognizes Michel’s commitment to the advancement of Haitian studies, particularly as editor of the association’s official publication, The Journal of Haitian Studies. The award was presented earlier this month at the organization’s annual meeting in Port Au Prince. The Haitian Studies Association is an international education organization that promotes research on Haiti. More specifically, the association is dedicated to encouraging new scholarship and modes of pedagogy about Haiti’s history and culture. The association also disseminates knowledge about Haiti in general and celebrates the scholarly achievements and contributions of those whose research interests focus on Haiti and its people.”

Michel is co-editor of “Haitian Vodou: Spirit, Myth, And Reality”
and “Vodou in Haitian Life and Culture: Invisible Powers”, and author of the forthcoming book “Offerings: Contintuity and Transformation in Haitian Vodou”. Congratulations to Claudine Michel!

The Jakarta Post interviews Dutch poet, and convert to Haitian Voodoo, Maria van Daalen. In Indonesia for the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, van Daalen discusses her conversion experience, living as a poet, and her definition of a spiritual life.

Maria van Daalen

Maria van Daalen is currently planning to publish a “grand essay” on Haitian Voodoo (she claims to have been initiated into the rank of Mambo Asogwe), to be published sometime in 2009. She also maintains a blog at her web site (a rough translation). Maria van Daalen’s life provides an interesting look into how the African diasporic religions are gaining interest and converts in “secular” Europe.