“Well, that was quite a game. You have to feel good for the city of New Orleans, no matter which team you root for. Coming five years after Katrina, the Saints’ big win seems perfectly scripted. By whom? A bunch of Saints players are saying that it was “God’s plan” that they beat the Colts.”

But thinking about the religious and cultural climate of New Orleans, I had some other notions of who might deserve a thank-you. Lisa Johnson, sister of retired football pro Eric Dickerson, and a root-worker for several NFL stars, tells Gawker that the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

“The Colts were up against every single “Southern root doctor, voodoo priest, and conjurer” in the Bayou last night. Johnson knew the Saints were getting special help when she watched the NFC Championship against the Vikings two weeks ago: quarterback Brett Favre took a beating, playing terribly after a whole season of the best football of his long career. ”I guarantee you,” she said, “when he got up at the end of the game, he felt like an old man.” The conjurers went to work on the Colts the week before the game … From midnight to 5 a.m.—”the witching hour”—the conjurers “burn candles, sage and tobacco” Chicken feet were used to curse opposing players and protect the Saints. By the time the game started, Johnson knew the Colts couldn’t win…“

While I’m sure there were some practitioners in Indianapolis trying their best to influence the outcome, they were probably out-gunned by sheer numbers alone. For weeks the media has been hinting that alongside Christian prayers, many fans were trying to appease the spirit of Marie Laveau, or engage in some root-work to make the win happen. Indeed, many commentators, despite thinking the Colts were technically better, decided there were too many mystical intangibles working for the Saints to lose.

“Sure, Peyton Manning is the most ruthlessly clinical surgeon under center since Joe Montana. But he tempted the fates. He might have offended New Orleans’ late voodoo queen Marie Laveau along the way. Or did you miss the “gris-gris” bestowed upon the once-favorite son of the South? Brett Favre, who grew up a Saints fan in neighboring Mississippi and later became King Creole, had the audacity to ride into the Louisiana Superdome with Minnesota. He needed a mere five yards or so to set up a game-winning field-goal attempt in the waning seconds. And as he rolled right, the field opened up. Then, as if someone (Laveau?) stuck a pin in the right arm of his purple-clad voodoo doll, Favre uncorked a cross-body pass. Interception. Overtime. Favre never touched the ball again. The erstwhile Aints were Super Bowl-bound.”

So as Get Religion explores the many Christian dimensions of yesterday’s Super Bowl, let’s also acknowledge that there was plenty of “extracurricular” spiritual activity happening on the side-lines. I mean, can you have a big win in New Orleans without thanking God and the spirits? Something tells me there are going to be plenty of offerings left at crossroads, graves, and shrines in the coming weeks alongside the “amens” in church.

“Erol Josue lost more than two dozen friends and extended family in Haiti’s devastating earthquake. The Voodoo priest, who lives in New York, says he has spent the past week saying traditional Voodoo prayers … Voodoo is playing a central role in helping Haitians cope with their unthinkable tragedy … even as Haitians mourn the death of tens of thousands of people, Voodoo gives them an eternal perspective, says Max Beauvoir, the supreme servitor of Voodoo, or the highest priest, in Haiti.”

In addition to interviewing Erol Josue and Max Beauvoir, they also speak to Elizabeth McAlister, a Vodou expert at Wesleyan University. McAlister has been busy defending Vodou since the earthquake hit, writing sympathetic pieces for Forbes and Newsweek/On Faith. They are all part of a growing chorus of pro-Vodou voices that have emerged since Pat Robertson, David Brooks, Rod Dreher, and other commentators have implied, directly and indirectly, that the religion is partially to blame for the depth of the tragedy, and for Haiti’s ongoing social and economic problems.

Not that this has stopped the anti-Vodou onslaught. While Robertson has been (somewhat) muted after the outcry he caused, the Robertson-founded Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is staying “on message” concerning Vodou in Haiti. Running a “earthquake bringing Vodou practitioners to Christ” story.

“The Haitian government officially recognized voodoo as a religion in 2003. More than half of the country’s 9 million people are believed to practice voodoo. But for Polestier, the earthquake brought serious doubts about her religious practices. “I’m going to leave it. I’m going to leave Voodoo,” Polestier vowed. “It has brought me nothing but anguish.” It’s a sentiment Camille has heard repeatedly over the last few days as Haitians struggle to understand their hardships. “So many people are accepting Christ,” he said.”

Stay classy, CBN. Leaving their Robertson-connections aside for a moment, the CBN story feeds into a larger undercurrent of post-earthquake pro-missionary sentiment among (predominantly) evangelical Christians.

“A religious ministry group based in Albuquerque is hoping to provide comfort in Haiti by sending hundreds of electronic audio Bibles to earthquake survivors. The group, Faith Comes by Hearing , plans to ship 600 Bibles this week. “The people are thirsty for words of comfort, and they’re asking us for the Bibles,” said spokesperson Jon Wilke … Shortly after the 7.1 earthquake struck Haiti, group members rushed to figure out how they could get the Bibles to the disaster zone…”

I just bet they did! What “opportunity” to swoop in and evangelize while people are experiencing trauma! Still, one wonders if this zeal, and Vodou-demonizing, will ultimately backfire. It’s hard to say what religious narrative will dominate in the months, and years, to come. Could we see a stronger, resurgent, Vodou? Just as many younger Haitian Americans are exploring the faith?

In the meantime, one of the positive outcomes of this terrible tragedy may be the thrusting of Vodou, so long misunderstood, into the spotlight. We are starting to see the appearance of Vodou blogs, as American adherents try to gather news from Haiti. This emerging Vodou voice, along with a growing number of sympathetic scholars, could help shape public opinion, and give journalists better sources to turn to when exploring the religion.

“A measure proposed by state Sen. Albert Hale, D-Window Rock, would require the Arizona Department of Health Services to regulate individuals or businesses that charge people to take part in what are claimed to be “traditional and authentic Native American practices.” Violators would be subject to yet-to-be-determined civil penalties. Hale said the measure is a direct outgrowth of the incident last October in Sedona, when three people died after participating in what was billed by its promoter as a traditional sweat lodge ceremony. Participants paid up to $10,000 for the overall “healing” retreat. The senator said SB 1164, if it becomes law, would preclude that from happening. He called the event “a perversion of our traditional ways.” But Hale said the proposal would go further, regulating what anyone could call a “Native American” practice, at least for pay.”

The proposed bill has the support of current Navajo Nation President, Joe Shirley, Jr., and if passed, would not apply to practices held on tribal lands. The “nuances” concerning free events that purport to be Native practices, or Native-like activities that don’t claim to be Native have yet to be worked out. Hale pointed out that this bill targets more how an event is advertised than how it is actually practiced. There hasn’t been too much commentary on the proposed bill yet, but the Don’t Pay to Pray blog seems all for it.

“Twelve precious human beings have lost their lives in pay-to-pray sweat lodges conducted by or influenced by ambitions non-Natives who were all later shown to have absolutely no knowledge or understanding of indigenous spiritual protocol and philosophies. There have been many other close calls that were not reported in the manin stream media. In my opinion this legislation is overdue. It’s telling to me that it took a Native American member of the legislature to come up with a bill that penalizes non-Natives from profiting from the exploitation of indigenous spiritual beliefs and practices, while taking steps to ensure that indigenous people are still allowed their rights to freedom of religion. I have always been an advocate of culture-jamming and taking the “cool” out of the exploitation of our spiritual ways, but perhaps the solution really lies in taking the profit motive out of this exploitation as well.”

How this would ultimately affect other faiths that have been known to dabble with Native practices, like some modern Pagan groups, remains to be seen. I suspect that, if the bill becomes a law, it wouldn’t change too much. Usually Pagans shy away from charging for such things, and if they don’t, often re-label the practices to suit their (usually) Euro-centric world-view. As for James Arthur Ray, his lawyers insist he isn’t liable for those sweat-lodge deaths, even as more incriminating details leak out. When, or if, he is brought to court, or is brought up on charges, remains to be seen.

In Other News:

In Defense of Vodou: While Haiti continues to struggle, and is rocked by major aftershock, more commentators are stepping forward to defend Haitian culture and religion in the face of charges that it causes/worsens the hardships they face. Dianne M. Diakité, associate professor of Religion and African American Studies at Emory University, argues that critics are buying into the “myth of Voodoo” instead of the reality. That Vodou practitioners, far from being complacent, were actually first responders in the aftermath of the quake.

“This line of discussion, however, concedes to the fear that behind the portrait of meandering earthquake survivors peacefully singing Christian hymns in the streets of Port-au-Prince is a barbaric “voodoo” ceremony waiting to unfold. It is for this reason that accessible Vodou priests and priestesses who were first responders, providing medical care to wounded victims pouring into their temples in the immediate aftermath of the quake, remain unaccounted for in the US American media’s roll call of international heroes and heroines now at work in Haiti.”

So while fools continue to equate Satanism with Vodou, turn the tragedy into a morality play, or blame Vodou for Haiti’s poverty, the heroic Vodou priests and priestesses of Haiti remain largely unsung.

More on Christian Gun Sights: As a follow-up to yesterday’s post on Bible-verse encoded gun-sights being used by the military, many wondered what the big deal was, so long as the machinery functioned properly. Dispatches from the Culture Wars shares a letter received by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation that highlights what non-Christian soldiers are subjected to as a result of these “special” sights.

“A very senior NCO was yelling at us which is not that unusual. He asked a private what it was that he (the private) was holding in his hand and the private said it was his “weapon” several times to which the senior NCO replied “and what ELSE is it”? FInally, the senior NCO said that the private’s rifle was also something else; that because of the biblical quote on the ACOG gunsight it had been “spiritually transformed into the Fire Arm of Jesus Christ” and that we would be expected to kill every “haji” we could find with it. He said that if we were to run out of ammo, then the rifle would become the “spiritually transformed club of Jesus Christ” and that we should “bust open the head of every haji we find with it.” He said that Uncle Sam had seen fit not to give us a “pussy ‘Jewzzi’ (combination of the word ‘Jew’ and Israeli made weapon ‘Uzi’) but the “fire arm of Jesus Christ” and made specific mention of the biblical quotes on our gun sights. He said that the enemy no doubt had quotes from the Koran on their guns but that “our Lord is bigger than theirs because theirs is a fraud and an idol” … Finally, this senior NCO ended his yelling by warning us that if we did not “get right with Jesus” then our rifles would not provide spiritual strength despite the bible quotes on our ACOG gunsights and that we would be considered “spiritual cripples” to our fellow units and soldiers. He didn’t say it in so many words, but the message was clear; if anything bad happened in a combat situation, it would be the fault of anyone who had not accepted Jesus Chris in the “right way”.”

These sights, these Jesus-guns, aren’t just being used against the enemy, they are being used as a club against non-Christian soldiers. They are being told, specifically, that the “magic” in them won’t protect the unbeliever (that it may even hinder them), that they are engaged in a holy war. A holy war that will only allow two faiths fighting for dominance.

Anglicans vs. Episcopagans: The conservative Anglican site VirtueOnline worries over the infiltration of Pagan religion into the US Episcopal Church, this time focusing on a “croning” ritual that appeared in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington’s newsletter.

“Entitled “Crone Power”, the meditation innocuously sat opposite a story about choosing a children’s Bible and next to a column on St. Jerome. The newsletter quickly drew the attention of Anglican bloggers, many of whom found the placement of what appeared to be a Wiccan ritual to be jarring in an official church publication. But intentionally or not, the publication and placement of the rite were reflective of a new reality: one in which practices drawn from or inspired by pagan belief, including witchcraft, are increasingly finding acceptance within the ranks of the Episcopal Church.”

I have little interest in the self-appointed heretic hunters of the Anglican communion, but what did catch my eye is that they heavily quote Catherine “Wicca’s Charm” Sanders as an “expert” on modern Paganism. Sanders, a Christian who used to write anti-Pagan tracts for Focus on the Family, is no expert on modern Paganism. Her book, “Wicca’s Charm”, is a deeply flawed work that makes some frankly ignorant claims about the history of ancient Paganism. So, needless to say, any article that makes her the primary point of reference on Paganism should be held suspect.

Bastet Temple Found: In a final note, Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered the temple of Queen Berenike (the wife of Ptolemy III) in Alexandria, and it appears that temple was dedicated to the Egyptian cat-goddess Bast/Bastet.

“The team found a large collection of statues depicting the cat goddess Bastet, indicating that the temple was dedicated to the deity. Clay pots and bronze statues of other Egyptian gods including Harpocrates and Ptah were also discovered, the Supreme Council said. The find suggests that the worship of Bastet continued even after the decline of the Pharaohs, it said.”

So proof that worship of Bast endured at least until the 3rd century? Good news for Bast fans! You can read more about the discovery, here.

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

“It is not in our culture to bury people in such a fashion,” Haiti’s main voodoo leader, Max Beauvoir, said in a meeting with Preval. Local radio is broadcasting messages for Haitians to put bodies recovered from under the rubble of collapsed buildings on the street for collection by garbage and other trucks. “The conditions in which bodies are being buried is not respecting the dignity of these people,” Beauvoir, who was educated at City College of New York and the Sorbonne in Paris, said in the Preval meeting this weekend.

Which brings us to the question of whether these anonymous mass graves are indeed a necessity. The Haitian Red Cross President Michaelle Amedee Gedeon says that disease risk is minimal, while the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says that anonymous mass graves are bad procedure that can worsen the tragedy.

“The belief that bodies pose a serious health threat often leads authorities to take misguided action, such as mass burials, which can add to the burden of suffering already experienced by survivors,” the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said. “The worst part of this is that these actions are taken without respecting the processes of identifying and preserving bodies, something that not only goes against cultural norms and religious beliefs but also has social, psychological, emotional, economic and legal consequences that add to the suffering directly caused by the disaster,” said PAHO … ICRC officials, who recommended only shallow ditches to cover the dead, said: “People need to be able to identify their relatives. It is important to at least take photographs of those being buried and to note any unique physical markings, like teeth and scars.” They cited the Asian tsunami of 2004 in which people were swiftly buried in mass graves or cremated. “We don’t want to repeat those mistakes,” the Red Cross said. But here in Port-au-Prince, fresh fatal errors are committed daily.

Despite the protests and the advice of various health organizations, some 50,000 dead are already lying in pits surrounding Port-au-Prince. Whether this policy will change with the influx of aid and volunteers remains to be seen. There is little to no Haitian government infrastructure left to guide aid efforts, and some may see the mass graves as a more efficient (and psychologically tolerable) solution in the short term.

In Other News: Over at Psychology Today, noted addiction psychologist Stanton Peele weighs in on Mass. Democratic candidate Martha Coakley’s involvement in the Fells Acre ritual abuse case.

“Whenever you mock the trials of witches in Salem, consider having an unrepentant witch hunter in the United States Senate.  Coakley is heavily backed by the Massachusetts Democratic Party, Ted Kennedy’s widow, and President Obama. So witch hunting can be a path to success. Perhaps these worthies are correct in supporting her – they are political people. But I couldn’t vote for Coakley (although I certainly don’t support Coakley’s opponent). Even if Coakley survives this election, however, her campaign has marked her as damaged political goods – something her behavior re “ritual child abuse” should have done, but failed to.”

The Overlawyered blog rounds up more blog and editorial commentary on Coakley relating to the Fells Acre case. Meanwhile, moderate conservative Andrew Sullivan seems to be leading the “Coakley is bad but Brown would be worse” charge at his blog (as are the Democratic partisan blogs, naturally). Though even he wonders if the “perfect storm” of resistance to Coakley can be turned aside. As I said before, I don’t envy the choices presented to Massachusetts voters.

Former Pagan author AJ Drew has apparently converted to Catholicism, and is in the midst of an ugly custody battle with his wife, who he is accusing of ongoing domestic (and possibly sexual) abuse. Here’s the relevant quote concerning his current religious status.

“I think it is fairly clear that religious discrimination can be added to sexual discrimination. In court, as if this were the 16th century, I have been accused of being a Witch. This either because several years ago I wrote some New Age titles or because today I am a practicing Catholic. I can not be sure why they are so concerned with my religious preferences, but the supervisor demanded that I tell her my religious preferences in court while she was testifying against my sanity. It was as if she felt all Catholics or members of other religions to which she does not subscribe are insane.”

As to the issues of abuse, and the custody of his children, I have no idea what the situation truly is. Nor do I feel inclined to venture a guess. Custody cases, especially ones where abuse is alleged, can be quagmires of competing narratives and claims, the results often pleasing no-one. You can read AJ Drew’s side of the story here, and here. Readers can follow up on them, or not, as they wish. As for further coverage here, it’s clear that a connection to the wider Pagan community is no longer desired by Drew (now going by Andrew Schlomann), so barring extraordinary circumstances, I’ll respect those wishes.

Turning briefly to Romanian politics, it seems that Social Democratic Party leader Mircea Geoana and his wife Mihaela Geoana have accused Romanian President Traian Basescu’s (of the Democratic Liberal Party) team on national television of using mystical attacks to win the recent elections.

“National paper Romania libera writes an op-ed on Monday headlined “Voodoo politics”, while TV news channels focused on debates on the “Violet flame mania”, referring to renewed accusations of mystical attacks by President Traian Basescu’s team against Mircea Geoana, his rival in the second round of presidential elections in December 2009. Romanian news agency Mediafax reported that last weekend Mircea Geoana said on Antena 3 news channel that he did not feel drained of energy during the last televised debate of the presidential elections. But while claiming these were childish excuses, he said Basescu was using the support of people with paranormal abilities who were present at the debate. Then, on Saturday, his wife Mihaela Geoana said Mircea Geoana was the target of malicious energy attacks during that debate, which would explain why he was “paralyzed” during parts of the discussion.”

Luckily, it doesn’t look like many are taking them very seriously, even fellow party members are mocking them. You can read more about the “violet flame conspiracy”, here, and here.

In a final note, today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The government thinks you should make this day a day of service, while others are reflecting on King’s legacy in the era of Obama. As for Americans United, they want to remind you of another dream King had, the dream of religious freedom.

“In a pluralistic society such as ours, who is to determine what prayer shall be spoken, and by whom? Legally, constitutionally or otherwise, the state certainly has no such right.”

They close with what King thought the true role of religious institutions in America were for.

“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”

May all of King’s dreams for America, and the world, be fulfilled.

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

“As Lawrence E. Harrison explained in his book “The Central Liberal Truth,” Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences. There is the influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning futile. There are high levels of social mistrust. Responsibility is often not internalized. Child-rearing practices often involve neglect in the early years and harsh retribution when kids hit 9 or 10. We’re all supposed to politely respect each other’s cultures. But some cultures are more progress-resistant than others, and a horrible tragedy was just exacerbated by one of them.”

That was conservative commentator David Brooks, who argues that we should encourage a new moral “paternalism” instead of sending more aid money to Haiti. This, naturally, appeals to Rod “Crunchy Con” Dreher, who never much liked Vodou (or Santeria, which he calls savage demon-worship) anyway.

“The kind of religion one practices makes a huge difference in how the community lives — for better or for worse. I suppose it’s at least arguable that the Haitians would be better off at the Church of Christopher Hitchens rather than as followers of voodoo.“

Dreher bizarrely tries to bolster his point by talking about black American Christians, how the poor in Turkey are so tidy, and stuff his “Mexican immigrant housekeeper” told him. I don’t even want to begin unpacking the problems with his post, it would take me a week. Next up to the punching-bag is economist Tyler Cowen.

“Hegel was correct that the “voodoo religion,” with its intransitive power relations among the gods, was prone to producing political intransitivity as well. (Isn’t that a startling insight for a guy who didn’t travel the broader world much?)”

He keeps using the word “intransitive” to describe Vodou. Either he doesn’t understand what that word actually means, or he knows next to nothing about human-loa interactions within the faith. But trust him, he’s an economist! Next, Ruth Gledhill, religion correspondent for the Times, interviews Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach, superintendent minister of Wesley’s chapel in the City of London, who was ordained in Haiti. Guess what he thinks of Vodou in Haiti?

“Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach … said he feared the fatalism inspired by the voodoo religion would militate against recovery … Lord Griffiths told The Times: “I would say that 90 per cent of the time, the voodoo is non-malign. It is not just sticking pins into dolls, although there is a bit of that.” The tragic religious “fault line” which could now impact recovery from the earthquake was the “fatalism” of the voodoo belief system.“

Man! Haiti must be totally doomed! I mean, everything would be just fine, eventually, if it weren’t for all that darn fatalistic, intransitive, futile, un-tidy Vodou! Never mind that Haiti has been kicked when it’s down so many times that it’s amazing it still exists at all, if we just inject some paternalistic, moralistic, Christianity into the country, the road to recovery can begin. The only commentator I could find who didn’t think Vodou was holding the country back was Ian Thomson, author of “Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti”.

“For most Haitians, Vodou is the only way to rise above the misery of poverty and the devastation wreaked by hurricanes, mud slides, storms and now this humanitarian catastrophe. When a Haitian is possessed by a loa (spirit) he is taken out of himself and transformed. At night, Port-au-Prince is now said to flicker with candles, as swaying, homeless Haitians offer prayers to the loas in hope of deliverance.

Vodou also reflects the rage and ecstasy that threw off the shackles of slavery. On the night of August 15, 1791, a ceremony was held in the north of Haiti that marked the beginning of the revolt. A rain of burning cane straw, sweet-smelling, drifted over the plantations as the slaves set them ablaze. Toussaint L’Ouverture was said to have taken part in this Vodou-inspired uprising – proof that religion is not always an opium of the people, but a prelude to action.”

Hey! Someone remembered that Vodou had a role in ending slavery in Haiti! Maybe all these commentators who seem to think they know all about Vodou and its “fatalism” should take their theological and idealogical blinders off for a moment, and realize that the faith has survived, thrived, and been exported around the world, because there is something to it besides their cheap over-simplifications. The sheer lips-smacking missionary opportunism displayed here is shameful, and casts a very dim light on the “moral” superiority of the Christian faith.

“What I wanted to say is that Vodou is not some sort of sorcery, or the product of some “pact to the devil” (thank you Pat Robertson). I also wanted to correct his erroneous assumption that Haiti is a nation of Vodou practitioners. It is, and continues to be, overwhelmingly Christian.”

Maldonado, author of “Afro-Cuban Theology: Religion, Race, Culture, and Identity”, predicts that Christian Pentecostalism will receive a big boost in the wake of this tragedy, just as it did in Guatemala after a massive quake in 1976. Its apocalyptic theology and literalism appealing to a shell-shocked and traumatized people. Meanwhile, Rachel Tabachnick at Talk To Action notes the long history of Christian missionaries demonizing Haiti’s history and Vodou religion,  placing Robertson’s comments in a long and sordid context.

“The mythology of Haiti has played a significant role in its recent political struggles.  While many people go to Haiti to provide humanitarian relief, there have also been floods of missionaries, of both the religious and political variety, who have responded to the call to save Haiti from the pact with the devil.”

Another Vodou-related aspect to this ongoing tragedy is what to do with the thousands of dead. In the Vodou religion, no-one but relatives are supposed to touch the dead until the proper ceremonies have been performed. Reaching out, neighboring Brazil has offered to provide a graveyard, while respecting the religious concerns of Vodou practitioners in Haiti.

“Brazil is offering to build a cemetery in Haiti for the thousands killed in this week’s quake, and promising it will respect the Voodoo beliefs of part of the Caribbean country’s population, officials say. The proposal stemmed from the “great concern over the presence of abandoned bodies in the streets, which could create epidemics,” the defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday … “A special attention will be given to adherents of Voodoo, a religion with a strong following in Haiti,” the statement said. One of the considerations in that regard is that “relatives do not accept that anybody touches their dead until their rituals are over.” Voodoo was brought to Haiti from Africa during the time of slavery. A version of it called Candomble exists in Brazil, which also became home to a large African slave population.”

Meanwhile, Benin, the African nation that shares strong cultural ties with Haiti, partially due to it being the acknowledged birthplace of West African Vodun, is holding special rites and ceremonies in solidarity with the victims (the president is also organizing aid).

“In an outburst of solidarity with the victims of the earthquake, the people of Benin and particularly those of Allada have organised traditional ceremonies to appease the spirits and seek the blessing of their ancestors for the Haitians. “A purification ceremony is planned for Haiti and a trip to the devastated island is even possible. We will continue to pray that it never happens again,” says the Queen of Allada.”

Sadly, it also sparked some unfortunate theodicy along with the solidarity.

“Queen Djehami believes that this week’s earthquake has happened because Haiti’s ancestors failed to carry out sacrifices. She explains that during his trip to Haiti six years ago, King Kpodégbé had warned the then President of Haiti of the need to organise sacrifices to appease angry spirits and ward off evil ones. His trip was part of bicentenary celebrations marking the death of Toussaint L’ouverture. Although the Haitian authorities probably didn’t ignore the king’s warning, they did put off organising the rituals. “Haiti is profoundly African and these things should not be underestimated,” exclaims Queen Djehami.”

Implying that the earthquake may have been caused by angry spirits is little better than saying it was all due to an imaginary pact with the Devil. Sadly, disaster seems to almost invite such wrong-headed thinking. Witness actor Danny Glover’s assertion that global warming, and the failure to do something productive at Copenhagen, caused the earthquake.

“When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I’m sayin’?”

While there is some speculation that global warming could affect earthquakes, there is no evidence that Haiti’s earthquake was triggered or made worse because of it. Glover’s attempt to politicize this disaster while bodies are being dragged out of collapsed buildings, and millions are in crisis, is seriously misguided.

Finally, the Pagan blogosphere has been commenting on this situation. The Immanence blog, while not reacting specifically to Glover’s comments, does a splendid job of rejecting theodicy in the name of Gaia/nature (he also recommends the Haitian charity Fonkoze).

“That said, nature is also never merely nature either. We are part of the nature that acts, part of the system of relations by which the earth twists and moans and writhes in its sleep. There’s little point in looking for a global warming “signature” here. Rather, it’s about vulnerability — and its just (or unjust) distribution among us. As the world globalizes, as we come to see and feel the pain on our screens, we come to build the body of humanity. But the building of it is highly, deeply, radically uneven. An anthropologist working in Haiti, whose e-mail was forwarded to me by a friend, laments the news coverage, “which depicts this as a natural catastrophe, when the real problem is substandard housing and lack of infrastructure.”

Over at Beliefnet, Pagan blogger Gus diZerega, while criticizing Pat Robertson’s assertion that Haitian Vodou is demonic, recalls a Vodou ceremony he attended in New Orleans, and Thorn Coyle avoids trying to find an explanation for the suffering, and instead sticks to what she can fathom.

“What I can fathom is that humans are suffering. Yesterday I donated money to Yele Haiti because all of the funds go directly to the victims of the earthquake. I have heard that the website is overwhelmed today (there were already volume issues yesterday, when I visited the site) but Wyclef Jean reports that one can text “YELE” to 501501 and $5 will be added to your cell phone bill. $5 is not too much to ask from most of us, but for those who cannot afford it, we are also being asked to send our prayers. Might I also recommend we honor the shifting earth and count our blessings where we find them?  May the Gods, humans, and Loa be with Haiti in this time of extraordinary need.”

Fathoming that people need help, and then acting on it, is the strongest form of magic one can do in this circumstance. Remember, I’m keeping an updated list of Pagan and Pagan-friendly efforts to raise funds for aid in Haiti, here.

“Sometimes I wonder whether the whole Pat Robertson experience doesn’t fill some cosmic need that everyone has after a natural disaster or act of terror. We want to be angry, but in a safe way. Robertson provides this vehicle for anger that fits perfectly into the 24-hour-news cycle.”

Robertson, while certainly venal scum, is smart and media-savvy enough to know exactly what he’s doing when he says those outrageous things. Remember, when the late Jerry Falwell blamed 9/11 on “pagans” and “feminists”, Robertson was right there, nodding and agreeing. It’s a game. They poke our collective sadness and horror, and invoke our anger, a dangerous form of magic that makes the whole world talk about them.

So what about the comments? Here’s what Robertson said:

“Something happened a long time ago in Haiti … they were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever … and they got together and swore a pact to the devil, they said, we will serve you, if you get us free from the Prince. True story.”

Is this even remotely true? A Christian distortion of Haiti’s African diasporic religion? Salon.com speaks with Andrew Apter, professor of history and anthropology at UCLA, who provides some clarity on the matter.

“Part of the revolution mythology is that one of the revolution leaders sacrificed a pig in Bois Caïmin in a voodoo ceremony and made a contract with Petwo [Haitian voodoo spirits]. It may or may not be true, but to call that a pact with the devil is a gross misrepresentation of what voodoo is. It’s about anything but the devil. He’s imposing an evangelical religious order on a much more sophisticated practice, and he’s turning it into a cheap invocation of Satanism. This is hate speech. It’s saying these people are damned.”

The sacrifice at Bois Caimin is a popular Haitian creation myth, one that modern-day Vodou practitioners re-tell with pride.

“Bois Caiman (French, Alligator Woods, Bwa Kayiman in Haitian Creole), was the site of a historic meeting on the night of August 13-14, 1791, which culminated in a traditional religious ceremony led by Houngan Boukman Dutty and the sacrifice of a black pig by Mambo Marinette, possessed by the lwa Erzulie Dantor. (Marinette has now become a lwa in the Petro portion of the Vodou liturgy!) This ceremony provided the final impetus for the uprising of Africans which led to the only successful slave revolt in the Western Hemisphere, and to the Western Hemisphere’s first independant black republic. In 1991 then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide held a re-enactment of the ceremony of Bois Caiman in the National Palace, provoking wide approval from the Vodouisant majority, and severe criticism from Protestant and Catholic Christian leaders, and members of the Haitian elite class.”

How much of it is actually true? Possibly very little of it, like all creation myths it is hard to prove, and the details change over the years. No doubt Robertson heard a vastly distorted version from a Christian missionary. The creation story, true or not, certainly has very little to do with Haiti’s many troubles over the years. Those who know and love Haiti, like former President Bill Clinton, know that Vodou enriches, not damns, that country’s culture.

“Why is Haiti so special to me? Haiti is completely unique in our hemisphere because of its history and culture. There are other French Caribbean islands, but none of them have Haiti’s particular Creole influence. None of them feature Haiti’s distinctive mix of West African religious and cultural influences, the most visible of which is the persistence of the voodoo faith, which is practiced alongside Christianity. Unfortunately, ever since the first slave revolt by Haitians in 1791, the country has been beset by abuses caused from within and without. It has never been able to fulfill its potential as a nation.”

If there is any silver lining to this terror, this destruction, it is that our religious communities, so long enchanted and fascinated by Haiti’s culture and indigenous faith, are galvanized into action to help it in this time of need. A moment of empathy and action that will perhaps grow into a deeper commitment and interaction. For now, if you can, donate to a reputable charity on the ground in Haiti (I’ll continue to update that post in the days to come), and pray for the wounded, the trapped, and the homeless.

“I do not know where to begin my comments on how this film perpetuates offensive stereotypes about Voodoo. The loas are represented as evil spirits full of greed and anger … The terms Voodoo, Hoodoo, and conjuring are used interchangeably throughout. In the end one is presented with an evil religion that will ultimately fail. I did not expect critical race analysis or a sophisticated presentation of Voodoo when I walked into the theater. It is, after all, Disney. I did not expect such a blatant, racist, and misinformed presentation of Voodoo, however. The reduction of religion to magic is also reaffirmed in the curious absence of Catholicism in the film. My son is correct, Disney Voodoo is bad magic; it just doesn’t have anything to do with the authentic African Diaspora religion.”

In addition to getting New Orleans/Louisiana Voodoo horribly wrong, it seems the film gets New Orleans itself all wrong. In another Religion Dispatches piece, Anthea Butler, associate professor of religion at the University of Pennsylvania, says the film is a big desecrating “lump of coal” that “picks up where Katrina left off”.

“I’m going to go all out and say that the entire movie is a wholesale desecration of New Orleans, Creole culture, Cajun Culture, religion, zydeco music, the Evangeline story, and Louis Armstrong (I’ll get to that in a minute.) Rolled up, Disney hates the South, period … I know it’s only a movie, but movies shape how people, especially children, view the world. In the case of New Orleans and the myriad of cultures it holds, to stint on all of the facets that make New Orleans and Louisiana the wonderful, complex, and sometimes exasperating place that it is is a crime. Disney’s princesses, once again, may have big beautiful eyes, but while kids are enjoying the view, Disney’s hack job of deconstructing history by making it “cute” is just as destructive as a category 5 hurricane. Fun and truth do not have to be mutually exclusive to sell a movie, unless of course you’re just bankrupt of ideas.”

Of course, Disney has a long history of acquiring and terraforming pieces of culture, transforming them to a point where most people think the Disney version is the original. There’s a reason why “disneyfication” is a pejorative term. So you get a Disney New Orleans where the Voodoo is bad, Catholicism is absent, tradition is ignored, and history is mangled. In the end, it’s more about extending the Princess brand, than doing something creative or original.

In Other News: The Pierce County Herald spotlights Circle Sanctuary’s efforts to send holiday care packages to troops in Iraq.

“The Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld is also remembering soldiers at Fort Hood Texas – where a Wisconsin unit lost three of its members in last month’s shooting rampage. Selena Fox, a senior minister of the Wiccan Church, said the Circle group sent packages to about 50 active duty personnel at Fort Hood to show extra support. They’ve also provided counseling for the Pagan soldiers at the base – and they sent holiday cheer to 150 Pagan troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

I’m sure it’s still not too late to donate, and help them in their efforts.

NPR reports on the rise of sorcery and witchcraft-related arrests and sentencing in Saudi Arabia, and talks to an expert who posits that the recent increase is a reaction to the government trying to curb the influence of the religious police.

“Saudi political analyst Tawfiq al-Saif says religious authorities truly believe they are helping society by discouraging faith in the supernatural. But, he says, there is also a political reason for the recent rise in sorcery cases. In the past few years, the government has tried to curb the influence of the religious establishment by sacking key religious figures, pushing for reform in the courts and criticizing the religious police. “One time, I met the head of the Hey’a [the religious police] and he was really sorry because in the past he was saying that they were free to do whatever they like to enforce the Sharia laws — even, he said, in the public buses, in the train, in the airports,” Saif says. But now that they are under pressure, the religious police are trying to flex their muscles in the few ways they still can, including looking for people who practice magic or who don’t pray five times a day, and for women who don’t properly cover their hair, Saif says.”

Does this mean that the plight of people like Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali and Ali Sibat are due to the last grasps at control by a shrinking power in the country? Or has the “muscle flexing” by the religious police shifted matters to their liking, and we’ll only see more madness and death in the near future? I suppose it remains to be seen, but I worry that any long-term solution to this anti-sorcery madness will come too late for the unlucky caught in this cultural crossfire.

For a somewhat different take on the problem of sorcery in the Middle East, The Epoch Times looks at Dubai, who have far more liberal laws concerning sorcery, but who also deal with rampant fraud and scam-artists.

“In the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai in particular, authorities take a more liberal stance. However, because of the large number of scam artists posing as sorcerers and exorcists in Dubai, police have set up a special task to crack down on so-called “magic-related crimes.” “Some people are just simple and anything will fool them,” Khaleel Al-Mansouri, the head of Dubai’s Criminal Investigation Department, told local newspaper seven days earlier this year. “It’s due to a lack of education, but also because the victims are greedy and are looking for a quick profit. “Our officers are highly skilled and they carry out special undercover patrols in shopping malls throughout Dubai looking for any sorcery crime that might be occurring.” In 2008 alone, fraudsters fleeced Dh130 million (US$35.5 billion) out of unsuspecting members of the public in sorcery scams.”

They also manage to interview a taxi driver, Hassan Hamadi, who also works as an exorcist. He claims he charges no money for his services, and lives in fear of being arrested by the sorcery task-force. However, despite the threat of arrest, because laws are more liberal (no death-penalty) places like Oman in the Persian Gulf has become, according to one journalist, a hotbed of “sorcerers and mystics”. Such is, I believe, the consequence of creating a legal gray area. They eliminate death-penalties and long prison terms for sorcery, but enough of a penalty remains to keep the practice criminal, underground, and unregulated. One wonders if they repealed all laws and dealt with fraud on a purely secular basis if a home-grown “neo-sorcery” would emerge, much like Wicca did in England. Maybe, maybe not, but arresting, and in the case of Saudi Arabia, killing, “witches” doesn’t seem to ever “solve” the problem.

In a final note, here’s a unique opinion essay at the American Thinker by Selwyn Duke that debunks the pagan origins of Christmas, while acknowledging the great debt we owe to “pagan” pre-Christian cultures.

“If we were to discard all things pagan, I should think we’d plunge ourselves back into the Stone Age. We walk on concrete, record our knowledge with letters, and designate our months with names originated/invented by the pagan Romans. We steer our boats with rudders invented by the pagan Chinese; make calculations with numbers invented by pagan Indians; and create computer graphics, medical imaging, and designs for buildings and bridges using geometry formalized by pagan Greeks. And much of our philosophy (and much of that drawn upon by early Christians, mind you) was generated by pagans such as Aristotle and Plato. Should we “go Taliban” and burn all their works — and other books thus influenced? A pious Christian must believe that pagans could not have had the whole Truth, but only an ignorant Christian would believe they had no Truth.”

I would happily concede Christmas as wholly Christian if those same culture-warriors would acknowledge that their foundation is built on the advances made by “pagans”. Heck, I’d even call it a “Christmas miracle”.

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

“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.

“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.