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Pagan Community Notes: Kyrja Withers, Hexenfest, Pentacle Quest, and More!

Jason Pitzl-Waters — April 23, 2013 — 11 Comments

Pagan Community Notes is a series focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. Reinforcing the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. My hope is that more individuals, especially those working within Pagan organizations, get into the habit of sharing their news with the world. So let’s get started!

Update on the Kyrja Withers Story: On March 30th I reported that Florida Pagan and children’s author Kyrja Withers had her home shot at, the latest in a string of escalating incidents seemingly connected to her Pagan faith. Now, PNC-Florida and the New Port Richey Patch are both reporting that the attacks have not stopped, and that her home was recently the subject of a chemical bomb attack, which required Withers’ daughter to seek medical care after inhaling fumes from the home-made bottle-bombs.

Kyrja Withers (Photo: Tampa Bay Times)

“She said there was a young man in the driver’s seat and another in the front passenger seat with his body sticking out of the window. She said the driver was also coming out of the window. There was also a young man in the backseat. She says two bottles with fluid inside were thrown at the house from within the vehicle on its return alongside the home. One landed near a bush in the front yard of the house. She saw the bottle expand and tried to get away before it exploded. “Every time I close my eyes, I see the bottle expanding,” she said. She said she did not escape the fumes when the bottle burst. She told the New Port Richey police that both bottles exploded. The second bottle exploded so hard that it went flying across the street and into a neighbor’s yard.”

Police are still investigating these incidents, and no arrests have been made. The Lady Liberty League is currently working on providing Kyrja Withers with support, and ask that “those who are interested in contributing suggestions of resources, ideas for strategies, and volunteering security consulting and other help” to send them an e-mail, or comment at the organization’s Facebook page. A focus image has also been provided for those who want to do magical/prayer work for Kyrja and her family. We will update you here with further developments. May Kyrja and her family remain safe, and may these perpetrators be brought to justice.

Hexenfest Happens This Saturday: The second annual Hexenfest, a celebration of mythic music and dance, is happening this Saturday, April 27th, at the Rhythmix Cultural Works in Alameda, California. Featured performers are Arcane Dimension, Pandemonaeon, Morpheus Ravenna, Anaar, a Tombo Studio fashion show, and DJing by Skellington.

“Welcome to Hexenfest, a music and arts festival dedicated to myth, magic, folklore, fairytale, and the numenous. We feature artists who are exploring the wild archetypal through their art; musicians, dancers, visual artists, and crafters who look to the realms of myth and dream and reflect their visions into our world. Hexenfest has a flair for the darkly exotic. Gothic, Pagan, and Tribal belly dance themes are featured prominently, evoking the forbidden forest more than than the enchanted wood. If you feel at home in dark fairytales, join us in the realm!”

I was honored to be involved in the first Hexenfest, and I think the event could be replicated by local communities who want to grow and support Pagan-made music, dance, fashion, and other arts. So if you’re in the area, why not consider dropping by in a show of solidarity? I can guarantee that a lot of excellent people will be there. Here’s the official Facebook event page.

6th Anniversary of Veteran Pentacle Quest Victory: On April 23rd, 2007, a settlement was reached with the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs concerning the inclusion of the Wiccan Pentacle to the official VA list of Emblems of Belief. Nine years of bureaucratic stalling over this issue were endured, very likely due to the personal beliefs of former Texas governor, then-president, George W. Bush. While some have tried to gloss over this struggle, litigation and public pressure was necessary to move this issue forward, and open the door for more minority religions to have their symbols included. Now, on this 6th anniversary of the victory, Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary, who was an instrumental part of the campaign, is hosting a special radio show this evening to share stories and remembrances.

2006 Pagan religious freedom rally at the September 11 memorial in Reno, Nevada. Pictured, left to right: Selena Fox, executive director of Lady Liberty League; Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, first Wiccan killed in action in War on Terrorism in Afghanistan; and US Army Chaplain William Chrystal, Pastor Emeritus of First Congregational Church (UCC) of Reno, Nevada.

“Celebrating 6th Anniversary of Veteran Pentacle Quest Victory Day with Roberta Stewart, others who helped make this happen. Tune in to special podcast tonight, 8-9pm CDT”

You can find the link to the show, here. Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, will be participating. You can read a history of this quest for inclusion, here. The Wild Hunt’s extensive coverage of the Veteran Pentacle Quest can be read, here. We give our thanks for those who fought to make sure individuals like Sgt. Patrick Stewart would be properly honored.

In Other Community News:

While not making their full goal, the Temple of Witchcraft did manage to raise over $50,000 for a new parking lot in a flexible funding campaign. Enough, it seems, to move forward with construction. In a post to their website, a representative of the Temple stated: “For the moment, we are humbled and grateful for the tremendous support the community has show our efforts.”
I’m going to quickly mention the issues raised over a recent public letter by Dianic leader Ruth Barrett over trans inclusion at Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, and the subsequent allegations made by the Living Temple of Diana concerning legal notices, in order to say that, yes, I’m aware of the issue, and I’m currently working on a longer story concerning the matter. Collecting official statements and talking to legal experts takes time, so stay tuned for future reporting on this.
In a similar vein, I’m working with Cherry Hill Seminary to present a report on the recent Sacred Lands and Spiritual Landscapes Symposium, presented by the seminary in conjunction with the University of South Carolina, and featuring historian Ronald Hutton as a keynote speaker, but we’re still working out the details. In the meantime, I recommend you check out John Beckett’s reports on the event (and here’s a piece devoted to his impressions of Hutton). Also, here’s a report from CHS Director Holli Emore on the symposium (with pictures).
Congratulations to the Gay Men’s Open Pagan Circle in New York on their 100th ritual last week.
Estelle Daniels of Paganistan (the twin cities in Minnesota) is interviewing elders in the Pagan Community in the Midwest who attend Earth House Midsummer Gather to get their stories. PNC-Minnesota runs her interview with Rev John Stitely, the current Chair of Earth House.
Do you want to see a conjure shop in Kansas City? Quote: “A Kansas City based team of rootworkers, conjurers, and Vodou people who want to open a store in the heart of Kansas City! There’s three of us, each representing different uniquely American spiritual traditions, and we’re combining our years of expertise to create a wonderfully fun, funky, and inviting lil’ shop here in the Heartland!” They have 16 days left to raise their $8000 goal (they’ve raised around $2,200 so far), so pitch in if this is something you’d like to support.

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

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

Jason Pitzl-Waters — March 25, 2013 — 11 Comments

There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans out there, sometimes more than I can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up.

Indonesian politician Permadi, photo by Edi Wiyono.

An Indonesian politician is opposing a law that would effectively outlaw the practice of witchcraft in the name of preventing fraud. Quote: “Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party politician Permadi, who claims to have psychic powers, disagreed with Andi’s argument, saying the article fails to protect the rights of psychics and witches. He said that not all people who could perform magic and cast a spell on someone else use their power wrongly, as some witches use their power in a positive way.” Permadi went on to say that “if you want to make this law perfect, you should involve people who understand witchcraft.” Seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Religion Clause’s usual round-up of prisoner free exercise cases includes one that involves an Odinist, and one that includes a practitioner of Native American religious practices.
Lisa Miller at the Washington Post looks at efforts to keep polyamory advocates quiet within the Unitarian Universalist Association. Quote: “…as the issue of same-sex marriage heads to the Supreme Court, many committed Unitarians think the denomination should have a position, which is that polyamory activists should just sit down and be quiet.”I’ve touched on this issue before, and some think the UUA moved to change its policy regarding Independent Affiliates due to polyamory advocates within UU.
At the Washington Post’s Magazine, Kristin Henderson seeks out Witches in England’s New Forest. Quote: “Turns out Jenny, 57, New Forest commoner, herb gardener, wild pony breeder, fireman’s wife and onetime owner of this gift shop, is a white witch. ‘White witches were always custodians of the forest,’ she says. ‘The forest is precious to us.’”
PNC-Minnesota interviews Drew Jacob about his successful “Magic to the People” crowdfunding initiative. Quote: “Many Neopagans aren’t aware that in most cultures, magicians charge for their services. It could take hours, even weeks to perform a full ceremony for a client, which means they charge high rates (which is fair) and some people make their living at it. A big part of this is not just because magic is draining, but because it is so time intensive or uses expensive materials.”

William Blake, The Whore of Babylon, 1809, Pen and black ink and water colours, 266 x 223 mm, © The Trustees of the British Museum

This Summer the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art will highlight a major exhibition of art dealing with the topic of witches and witchcraft. Quote: “Witches and Wicked Bodies will highlight the inventive approaches to the depiction of witches and witchcraft employed by a broad range of artists over the past 500 years, with striking examples by famous names such as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Salvator Rosa, Francisco de Goya, Henry Fuseli, John William Waterhouse and William Blake. The selection will also include more recent interpretations of the subject, by twentieth-century and contemporary artists including Paula Rego, Kiki Smith and Edward Burra. The exhibition has been curated by the National Galleries of Scotland with artist and writer Deanna Petherbridge and will contain major works on loan from the British Museum; the National Gallery (London); the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Tate; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, to be shown alongside key images from the Royal Scottish Academy and the Galleries’ own collections.” If I were anywhere in the vicinity of Scotland this Summer, I’d go.
On Friday, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear vetoed a flawed “religious freedom” bill, noting that “the measure is itself vague, and thereby creates impermissible uncertainty for businesses, individuals and governmental agencies as to the boundaries of existing laws.”Beshear took political heat in 2011 for attending a Hindu ceremony, and was indirectly accused of being a polytheist (he isn’t). I’ve written before about these “religious freedom” laws and they are generally bad news for religious minorities, so good on Gov. Beshear for the veto.
Will Pope Francis be the Catholic Pope to finally recant the Doctrine of Discovery? The American Indian Law Alliance and other Native activists hope so. Quote: “‘Now is the time for the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church to extend a hand and talk about these issues,’ said Tonya Frichner, the president of the American Indian Law Alliance. The Discovery Doctrine was a key element in the moral justification of the European conquest of indigenous people around the world and remains influential in legal circles.” I’ve written before about the Doctrine of Discovery, and the fight to have it repealed.
The South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) is filing a hate-speech complaint against education official Barbara Creecy after religious organizations and government education officials announced that they were teaming up to combat “the growing problem of Satanism and occult practices.” Quote: “This encourages prejudice and intolerance towards these groups, and may even contribute to violence against those whose dignity and right to religious freedom is being made out to be a criminal offence.”
In a final note, do check out this recording of the “Pagans and Privilege” panel which took place at PantheaCon 2013. The talk was moderated by T. Thorn Coyle, and featured panelists Crystal Blanton, Elena Rose, Xochiquetzal Duti Odinsdottir, and River Higginbotham.

That’s it for now! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of them I may expand into longer posts as needed.

The Fall of a Syrian Pagan

Jason Pitzl-Waters — March 21, 2013 — 86 Comments

Earlier this week I pointed to the fact that modern Paganism is now a global phenomenon. That we aren’t simply a small religious movement isolated to North America and the UK, and that we will increasingly be affected by issues we thought relegated to “over there.” Things that “aren’t our problem.” When I wrote that piece I knew that “Yana,” a Syrian Pagan, and friend of Pagan Newswire Collective Managing Editor Cara Schulz, had been killed, but it wasn’t my story to tell, my obituary to write. Today, at PNC-Minnesota, Cara tells the story of her death, learned through another Middle Eastern source that she considers reliable.

Syria in ruins.

“What happened to her is so ugly I’m struggling to … I can’t even finish that sentence. I’ll just tell you what I have learned, and although I trust this source, there is no way for me to independently confirm this. Some time in late June, Yana’s brother, who had become radicalized, informed the rebels that his sister was a Pagan. They took her, tortured her, then her brother publicly denounced her as a whore and a witch. After that, she was drug out onto the street, raped, and killed.

What I remember about Yana is she was always joking, always smiling. She injected joy into everything she did, from talking about the Gods she honored to showing off her latest hair style. She had more hair combs than anyone I’ve ever known. She wanted to come to America and eat bacon. She was fascinated and repelled by the thought of bacon so I would tell her about putting it in chocolate and on maple ice cream. She was nervous about getting married. Her father doted on her and she worried a husband might not be so kind or forgiving of her free spirit. She told me younger men like to show how manly they are so she thought about telling her parents to find an older man for her to marry. It was hard to see her become less exuberant as the fighting started, and then drew closer. To see fear creep in and hear from her less often. How sad she was that she never left her home anymore because it wasn’t safe.”

In January, Schulz wrote about how the small and isolated number of modern Pagans in places like Syria and Egypt were falling silent as fighting and political turmoil reached new heights.

Yana’s last communication to Cara Schulz.

“The situation in Syria appears to be more grave, according to the last messages I received from the five Pagans I chat with regularly. They spoke of the fighting and how places looked like Beirut, buildings just shells of themselves, rubble blocking the streets. They detailed neighbors going missing. Islamic fundamentalist patrols that monitor behavior and took violent action against people who violated rules and customs. They debated fleeing, worried about being outed as a Pagan, and started destroying or burying altars. Three began attending local mosques to show their devotion to Islam.

Yana dropped off first. I last heard from her in June of 2012. Bayan, another Syrian Pagan, also hadn’t heard from her but said fighting in her area was intense. He said he had seen patrols targeting young women and men, beating them and he said it was rumored they were raping them. He thought perhaps she fled to a safer area or was silent to avoid detection.”

These aren’t Christians or Muslims accused of sorcery, these aren’t dissidents accused of heresy, these are our people. These are modern Pagans, people interested in reviving their own culture’s pre-Christian past, people who were, and are, deeply curious about what their Western cousins were doing, what we were thinking. These were our people killed in this conflict “over there.” Our people in hiding, on the run, pretending to be (the right kind of) Muslims, trying to survive. The situation brings to mind a classic chant often used as public Pagan rituals by Morning Feather and Will Shepardson.

“We are an old people, we are a new people, we are the same people, stronger than before.”

To my mind, the chant was about continuity, about solidarity. That modern Pagans were diverse, that we came from different sources, but that we were a movement who were now coming together to be stronger, to declare ourselves to the world. It’s time that our movement claimed the full responsibility for our success. We have been working a global spell for the last fifty years, telling everyone that the Witches, the Pagans, the Heathens, the old ways, were back, that everyone who felt that connection should embrace it, should return to the old gods, should join us in becoming a movement of people who were stronger than when we fell before. The spell has worked, now we must embrace what it has brought us, however imperfect, or inconvenient, or painful some of it may be. When you try to change the dominant religious paradigms of the world, people will die, they will be placed in danger by mobs who want power, who fear change, who want to establish never-ending towers of dominance. This is not hyperbole, because far from the (relative) privilege and safety of the West, there are people who heard our chants, our calls, and are now hiding and dying as a result.

What can we do? What should we do? We start by engaging with the world, by re-doubling our interfaith efforts, by supporting the organizations that are sending people to speak for us. Beyond that, we can support Doctors Without Borders, who have a long and positive track-record of helping people in war-stricken lands (there’s an option to earmark for Syria), and we can educate ourselves on all those issues “over there.” This self-education doesn’t mean we all have to agree on how we should respond, but we can at least start from a place of awareness when we do have these conversations. Finally, we can pray, do magic, and do ritual, for all Pagans across the world endangered because of who they are, because of where they are, realizing that such workings are the prelude, not the end-point, of action.

ADDENDUM: For those of you wanting to donate to Doctors WIthout Borders in Yana’s name, Cara Schulz has set up a special page at their website for that purpose, and hopes to raise $1000 for relief efforts.

In Paganism, Religion Cara Schulz, Middle East, Paganism, PNC-Minnesota, Syria, War, Yana

Quick Notes: Sarah Pike, James Arthur Ray, Orion Foxwood

Jason Pitzl-Waters — March 13, 2013 — Leave a comment

We just a have a few quick (Pagan) news notes for you today, enjoy!

Sarah Pike on Studying Religion, Paganism, and Spiritual Festivals: The always-excellent Religion in American History blog interviews religion scholar Sarah Pike, perhaps best known to modern Pagans as the author of “Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves: Contemporary Pagans and the Search for Community” and “New Age and Neopagan Religions in America.” In a fascinating interview, Pike talks about how she got into studying religion, the “internal revolutions” of young people, and the current state of Paganism in the mainstream media (among other things).

Sarah Pike

In a chapter I wrote recently on “Wicca in the News” about changing representations of Witches in American news media since the 1960s (Oxford Handbook of Religion and the American News Media, 2012), I argue that reporters today rarely depict Witches as evil or satanic, even though stereotypes from the 1960s and 1970s of sexy young female Witches or cuddly cookie-baking elderly Witches-next-door still remain. In the past 25 years since I entered my first occult shop and started asking questions, the boundaries between categories like religion and magic and the differences between “folk,” “popular,” and “institutional” religion are treated with more nuance. And scholars of American religions are more likely to take traditions like Wicca seriously than they did when I was a graduate student, because Neopaganism has become firmly established across North America and formally recognized in government branches and institutions such as the military and prisons.”

The whole thing is worth a read, I’m particularly intrigued by her upcoming focus on “the lineage of twenty-first century spiritual festivals,” which seems to intersect with recent work on “transformational” festival culture.

James Arthur Ray Still Trying to Evade Responsibility: “Secret”-peddler and New Age guru James Arthur Ray, currently in prison after being convicted of negligent homicide in three 2009 sweat-lodge ceremony deaths, is still in the process of trying to get that conviction overturned despite asking the families for forgiveness and saying that “I’m disappointed in myself and I don’t have any excuses.”

James Arthur Ray

“Attorneys for a self-help author imprisoned in the deaths of three people say the prosecution has done little to show the case wasn’t plagued by error. James Arthur Ray wants his conviction on three counts of negligent homicide and his 2-year prison sentenced overturned. His attorneys have called into question some jury instructions and the conduct of prosecutors from Yavapai County in briefings to the Arizona Court of Appeals. [...] In a cross-appeal, the attorney general’s office says jurors should have been told that Ray had a duty to aid participants in distress and to avoid creating a situation that put them at unreasonable risk of harm.”

If Ray were truly the spiritual visionary he claims to be, he would bear the paltry sentence given him (just over two years for three deaths) and work to re-build himself once free. Reaching out to the families he’s harmed, and speaking out on the dangers of appropriating cultures one doesn’t understand. The reverberations from this case are still being felt, and it remains to be seen if the right lessons have been learned. We’ll keep you posted on his appeal.

Orion Foxwood Heads to Paganicon, Talks About His Personal Journey: Spiritual teacher, conjurer, and seer Orion Foxwood, author of “The Candle and the Crossroads: A Book of Appalachian Conjure and Southern Root-Work” and “The Faery Teachings” is headed to Paganicon in Minnesota this week, and PNC-Minnesota interviews him before the event.

Orion Foxwood (Photo: Tony Mierzwicki)

”I have three major streams I work with. There is my Pagan witchcraft, Faery Seership, and Southern conjure. The Faery Seership grew along a parallel path with my craft work. I was influenced in a major way by R.J. Stewart in my Faery work, and through his work attained a contact in the spirit world named Brigh. Brigh and I have continued to develop that work over the years. I teach much of that, it is more of an integrated, co-created practice working with the more invisible side of nature. All three streams of practices really come together with their own unique insights. They all have a way of speaking as to how my soul has grown; spiritually, magically, and mystically. They all support my work in the world, and within myself. They give me a broader set of language to often say the same things. It makes it easier to reach many kinds of “ears”, including people with different types of spirit work.”

The entire interview is interesting reading if you’re unfamiliar with Orion’s background and practice. I’m hoping to hear a lot more from Paganicon this weekend, where Orion Foxwood will be joined by Brandy Williams, author of “The Woman Magician: Revisioning Western Metaphysics from a Woman’s Perspective and Experience” as featured guests.

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

In Paganism, Religion academia, cultural appropriation, James Arthur Ray, journalism, law, litigation, Orion Foxwood, Pagan News of Note, Paganicon, PNC-Minnesota, Religion In American History, Sarah Pike, The Secret

Pagan Fundraising Initiatives: The Ancient Egyptian Daybook, Doreen’s Blue Plaque, and More!

Jason Pitzl-Waters — March 2, 2013 — 7 Comments

A bright and ongoing success story in the Pagan community has been the utilization of crowd-funding sites like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter to collectively raise funds for important projects. Starhawk raised over $75,000 dollars to help fund a pitch-reel in order get a feature film based on her book “The Fifth Sacred Thing” made. Peter Dybing helped raise $30,000 dollars for Doctors Without Borders in the wake of the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. Pagan singer-songwriter SJ Tucker was amazed when a Kickstarter campaign for Tricky Pixie’s European tour more than doubled their initial goal in a matter of hours (and kept on growing). In addition, several smaller initiatives have managed to collectively raise thousands for Pagan projects: The readers of The Wild Hunt funded the proposed budget of this site for a year, Chicago-based Pagan/magical performance troupe Terra Mysterium raised funds for their new show “The Alembic,”and the Goddess community funded a documentary film in honor of Merlin Stone.

Crowdfunding sites allow an easy mechanism for fundraising in communities that may have social networks and organizations, but not the robust money-raising infrastructure of already-established mainstream institutions. This is a place modern Paganism is in today, and more and more of us are turning to these sites as a solution to our “money problem.” There are hundreds of thousands of Pagans out there, millions around the world, and they desire to see our projects and initiatives advance just as much as any other faith community. So here are some Pagan Fundraising Initiatives that you might want to contribute to.

The Ancient Egyptian Daybook: Egyptologist Tamara Siuda, author of “The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook,” has been involved with the Pagan community for years in a number of different roles. She’s probably best known as a pivotal figure in Kemetic Orthodoxy, and more recently, as a mambo in Haitian Vodou. When she announced that she was fundraising to produce an Ancient Egyptian Daybook through Kickstarter so that interested individuals could keep track of all those wonderful ancient Egyptian holidays, she quickly surpassed her initial goal of $3000, and is quickly creeping up on $9000.

My name is Tamara Siuda. I’m an Egyptologist. (Yes, I’ve even played one on TV.) I’ve been translating hieroglyphs, teaching, and writing about ancient Egyptians for two decades. A few years ago, I published The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook. It includes translations of prayers, hymns, and magical incantations from Egypt’s pharaonic times. It also includes a very basic ancient calendar, because there wasn’t room for all my research. I’d like to give that calendar some more attention. With your help, I can publish The Ancient Egyptian Daybook. This Daybook will include all my research into ancient Egypt’s calendar. It will also include an optional blank perpetual calendar in a journal or planner format, so you can keep track of these holidays today, if you want!

With a little over a week left, she’s making plans for 10K, 20K, and 40K “stretch” goals, with various incentives. So if you want to jump on this project before the fundraising window closes, now’s the time. Wild Hunt columnist Stacey Lawless will be writing more about this fundraiser in her next column, which will also touch on her PantheaCon experiences. I think Pagans looking at how to do a successful crowdfunding initiative should study all the things that Tamara Siuda did right.

Commemorative Blue Plaque For Doreen Valiente: Doreen Valiente is rightly called the “mother of modern Witchcraft” by many, and her writings have had a huge shaping influence on religious Witchcraft as a whole. The Centre For Pagan Studies is currently raising funds to place the first in a series of commemorative blue plaques to honor Valiente and other key figures in modern Pagan history.

“The first Blue Plaque is the Doreen Valiente Plaque. We have been working on this for a number of years with Brighton and Hove City Council and we are pleased to announce that Doreen’s Plaque will be going on the wall at the apartments where she lived for 30 years and the location where she did most of her seminal writing. The event will take place on the Summer solstice this year – i.e. 21st June 2013. We are having to pay for the commemorative plaque ourselves so we need your help to raise 1200 pounds. This is to cover 750 pounds manufacturing cost and the remainder is for the installation. Time is short so please donate to this great cause. This will be a number of firsts. The plaque as afar as we can find out will be the first council apartment block. It certainly will be the first plaque that celebrates the life of one of our own. There are plaques commemorating the wrong doings, but this is the first to honor a witch.”

You can donate towards the cause, here. Future planned plaques include one for Gerald Gardner in 2014, and one for Alex Sanders in 2015.

In Other Pagan Fundraising Initiatives News:

PNC-Minnesota reports that Nordic roots performer and Völva Kari Tauring successfully raised $7000 to produce her new CD, Nykken & Bear. Says Tauring: “This seems like so much to ask, for people to just donate money to me. I went ahead and did it and it just blossomed like crazy.” Congratulations!
The Temple of Witchcraft campaign to raise funds for the improvement of their new temple headquarters continues apace, having reached the halfway mark with 50 days to go. They are pushing for an ambitious $68,000 and have already raised nearly $40,000. Temple co-founder Christopher Penczak says: “You might ask, why a parking lot and why now? The answer is: No Parking Lot, No Temple. The Temple of Witchcraft bought a building to hold rituals and classes in our New Hampshire location. But we can’t use it for its intended purpose until we build a parking lot to comply with town codes. And we can’t do that until we raise $68,000 dollars. We’re still keeping the former site open. That costs, too.”
It’s March, and that means Cherry Hill Seminary’s annual Hypatia Day fundraiser is starting soon. The concept is simple: host a viewing party of the movie “Agora” between March 15th and May 1st 2013 and solicit donations for the Pagan seminary. Prizes are awarded for best attended and most money raised.
Pagan Living TV, a non-profit media organization that seeks to create a world “where Pagan spirituality and philosophy is an influential voice in mainstream culture,” has launched an IndieGoGo campaign ongoing for their weekly video news program “The Pagan Voice.” So far they have raised $1,000 of their $33,500 goal, with 20 days left in the campaign. Here’s their most recent show from February 15th if you want to see their work.

Those are the highlighted campaigns for this edition. Please send me word of your crowdfunding campaigns, and I may spotlight them on a future edition of this ongoing feature. Let’s all work together to promote important projects within our community, and destroy the notion that we can’t or won’t fund projects that are important to us. If you can’t donate, the best way to help is to share these campaigns to your social networks, exposing them to as many people as possible. Thanks for reading, and thank you for supporting Pagan community!

In Paganism, Religion Centre For Pagan Studies, Cherry Hill Seminary, Christopher Penczak, crowdfunding, Doreen Valiente, fundraiser, fundraising, Hypatia, Kari Tauring, Pagan Fundraising Initiatives, Pagan Living TV, PNC-Minnesota, Tamara Siuda, Temple of Witchcraft, The Ancient Egyptian Daybook, The Pagan Voice

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

Jason Pitzl-Waters — February 26, 2013 — 27 Comments

For those who haven’t been following the Fox News/Tucker Carlson Pagan holidays at the University of Missouri saga, the Religion News Service (conveniently headquartered at Mizzou) gives a quick run-down. Of course that isn’t the end of it as Fox News host Bill O’Reilly decided he needed to have a go at the issue last week, and despite the requisite mockery admitted that “I don’t see anything wrong with this as long as the university is upfront about it … it is a movement, there are Wiccans and Witches and they do what they do … this is America.” Tonight on BlogTalkRadio Circle Sanctuary’s Selena Fox will be hosting a Pagan town hall on what our community can learn from this experience.
PNC-Minnesota has a piece up about the much-talked-about PantheaCon 2013 panel on privilege held in the COG/NWC/NROOGD suite, and moderated by T. Thorn Coyle. Quote: “The panel opened with Coyle talking about what is meant by privilege. ”If you have clean drinking water coming out of your faucet, that is privilege.” She emphasized the discussion about privilege would not be about placing blame, guilt, or victimization but about gaining a deeper understanding of one another and exploring differences and common ground. Privilege is often defined as the advantages a person or group has that are so normal to them they are usually unaware of them.” I had tried to attend this panel, but it was completely full by the time I arrived. I hear an audio recording was made, and hopefully this will be made available soon. I also hope this discussion can be continued more formally at PantheaCon next year.
NPR explores religious exemptions, who gets them, and why. Quote: “Religious exemptions are nearly as old as the nation. Early debate centered on oath-taking and bearing arms in militias. Today, they’re over where to educate children, whether to vaccinate them, who your church can hire or whether your synagogue pays taxes on its land, even what you can wear in a photo ID or if you can skip the photograph altogether.”
A trove of unpublished poems by Rudyard Kipling are finally seeing the light of day. Kipling was much admired by many Pagans for works like “Puck of Pook’s Hill” which included the now-famous lyrics for “Oak & Ash & Thorn.” Quote: “The 50 unpublished poems are being included alongside more than 1,300 of Kipling’s poems in the three-volume Cambridge Edition of The Poems of Rudyard Kipling, the first ever complete edition of his verse, out on 7 March.”

In March, a new book about Christian history will be released that will no doubt draw the attention of many Pagans. “The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom” by Candida Moss, a New Testament scholar at the University of Notre Dame, posits that the persecution narrative that many Christians cling to was largely fabricated. Quote: “[Moss] challenges some of the most hallowed legends of the religion when she questions what she calls “the Sunday school narrative of a church of martyrs, of Christians huddled in catacombs out of fear, meeting in secret to avoid arrest and mercilessly thrown to lions merely for their religious beliefs.” None of that, she maintains, is true.” For some, these revelations are nothing new, but that they are being presented in a high-profile fashion is, I think, important. Will Christians confront their own persecution narratives?
Gary Lachman, author of “Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality,” explains why Carl Jung is so important. Quote: “We may not agree with everything he says, but that isn’t important, and Jung himself always encouraged people to think for themselves. But by showing us how to look within, Jung introduced us to the most mysterious thing in the universe: ourselves.”
Why should same-sex marriage be legal? Because not every religion agrees with Christian thought on the issue. Quote: “Now anyone can come along to the centre to have their wedding. Perhaps people might assume that the centre is just for Hindus and we want people to know it is open to everyone, regardless of race, religion or sexuality. This is one way of us integrating with the community.”
The Patheos Pagan Portal has posted audio from their Pagan Intrafaith panel at PantheaCon 2013. Quote: “I’m in favor of a “big tent” definition of Paganism that is inclusive and welcoming – but if Paganism is going to survive as a diverse movement, we need to improve communication between different traditions and paths. I know that meeting Pagans with radically different beliefs and practices has helped me a great deal in developing my own, and I want my community to continue to be a place where that kind of inter-tradition communication can happen.”
I’m voting for the former instead of the latter, Chas.
Did we stop eating horses because it was a “pagan” custom?
Meeting a Vodou priest in Haiti. Quote: “Vodou is still alive in Haiti — whether we can see it or not. It is a religion with deep roots from West Africa. The great influence of his ancestors is still strong with Lisma. I was only there to observe and learn more about him. An encounter with someone like Lisma and immersing myself in other cultures is why I continue to travel to unknown places. Although, I will never fully understand the complexities of vodou, I now have a better understanding of the people and history of Haiti.”

That’s it for now! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of these I may expand into longer posts as needed.

Pagan Community Notes: Pagan Spirit Gathering, Cherry Hill Seminary, The Pagan Voice, and More!

Jason Pitzl-Waters — February 11, 2013 — 6 Comments

Pagan Spirit Gathering Announces Location for 2013: Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG), a Midwest Pagan festival that’s been running for more than 30 years, and broke attendance records last year, has announced that their festival will be held on the same lands in Illinois as the previous year, albeit under new ownership.

Solstice Fire at Pagan Spirit Gathering

“We are absolutely thrilled to be holding PSG at Stonehouse Farm,” said Sharon, PSG Manager. “This will be our third PSG at this location, and we are excited to work with the new owners of the property to make this event a success and to grow PSG.” [...] “Our goal for PSG has always been to create a community where like-minded people can meet one another, learn, and develop tools and ideas that they can take home with them to deepen their spirituality in the year to come,” said Selena Fox, Circle Sanctuary’s founder and Executive Director. “This year our theme is ‘Connections’ and we hope to incorporate many ways for participants to connect with Community, connect with the Land and connect with the Divine!”

Stonehouse Farm was previously Stone House Park, whose owners had come under fire from locals over noise and complaints about illegal activity. This was the second PSG site to suffer from such complaints, though they never originated from Pagan Spirit Gathering. PNC Minnesota has the full story about the sale at their site. With the site secured for another year, registration is now open!

Cherry Hill Seminary Joins Youtube: Wendy Griffin, Ph.D., Academic Dean of Cherry Hill Seminary, has alerted me to the official launch of their Youtube account for the Pagan seminary. It will, in the words of Dr. Griffin, be used “to show people the caliber of teaching our students receive.” The first video in this new series is a talk by Sabina Magliocco, Ph.D. (who has gotten quite a bit of attention here lately) entitled “Folklore, Culture & Authenticity.”

2012 saw two major accomplishments for the Pagan learning institution: the awarding of its first Master of Divinity in Pagan Pastoral Counseling, and graduate, Sandra Lee Harris having her credentials examined and accepted by the Board of Chaplaincy Certification, Inc., the credentials-examining body for the Association of Professional Chaplains. No doubt 2013 hold even more in store for them as they journey towards accreditation and partner with The University of South Carolina for the “Sacred Lands and and Spiritual Landscapes” symposium.

The Pagan Voice Holds Fundraiser: Pagan Living TV, a non-profit media organization that seeks to create a world “where Pagan spirituality and philosophy is an influential voice in mainstream culture,” has launched a new IndieGoGo campaign for their weekly video news program “The Pagan Voice.” Dr. Todd Berntson, Executive Director of The Pagan Voice, said in a press release that the money raised will be used “to fund the purchase of equipment and build-out of our new studio space.”

“Up to this point, we have relied on borrowed equipment that is not well-suited for television production, such as digital cameras, cheap floodlights, and a mix of whatever microphones we have available to us at the time. This has made the production process very challenging and stressful. In order for The Pagan Voice to continue to grow, it is necessary to have the proper equipment.”

They are trying to raise $33,500 in 40 days, an ambitious sum for a newly launched organization and media outlet. Still, you never know, they have certainly raised the bar in production values for Pagan-oriented video programs, so perhaps The Pagan Voice will find the supporters it needs now. Check out the perks, and how they plan to spend the money raised, here.

In Other Community News:

The New York Pagan podcast has posted the second and third parts in the four-part Pagan Way 40th Anniversary Lectures. The first part, “New York Pagan History: How We Got to Where We Are Today, “ featured Margot Adler, author of “Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America,” and Michael Lloyd, author of “Bull of Heaven: The Mythic Life of Eddie Buczynski and the Rise of the New York Pagan.” The newly posted talks are “Male/Female Polarity in Paganism: Do We Need It?” with Gary Suto and Lady Rhea and “Walking the Talk – Pagan Ethics, Spirituality, and the Environment” featuring Silkie O-Ishi of the Grailwood Coven and Courtney Weber of the Novices of the Old Ways.
Kenny Klein has published a new book entitled “A Teen’s Eye View of Men’s Spirituality” that “lays out – in simple, easy terms – the history, basic beliefs, and major benefits of a number of world religions. It has a simple, no-nonsense approach that will appeal to those who are seriously seeking a connection to The Divine, a better life, and a better understanding of themselves.”
You can read the latest about Pagan chaplain and activist Patrick McCollum’s ongoing sojourn in India for the Kumbh Mela gathering at the Patrick McCollum Foundation blog. You can read all of The Wild Hunt’s coverage of Patrick, here.
So, this week is PantheaCon in San Jose! We’ve already been mentioning some events that will be going on at the largest indoor Pagan convention in North America. This week, starting on Tuesday, we’ll be doing a run of special posts from Wild Hunt staff contributors about what they hope to experience at the event this year. Then it’s off to the event itself! Don’t worry, staff columnist/contributor Heather Greene will be keeping the home fires burning while we ~~party~~ report on the event. In the meantime, check out the PNC-Bay Area’s ongoing series of interviews with Pagans attending the event.

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

In Paganism, Religion Cherry Hill Seminary, crowdfunding, India, IndieGoGo, Kenny Klein, New York, Pagan Community Notes, Pagan Living TV, Pagan Spirit Gathering, Pantheacon, Patrick McCollum, PNC-Minnesota, PSG, Sabina Magliocco, The Pagan Voice, The Pagan Way, Youtube

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

Jason Pitzl-Waters — February 8, 2013 — 6 Comments

Cécile Pouilly, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In response to the burning of Kepari Leniata in Papua New Guinea, covered here at The Wild Hunt yesterday, Amnesty International and the United Nation’s human rights office have both urged the government to take “concrete” actions to stop witch-killings in the Commonwealth nation. Quote: “We urge the Government to put an end to these crimes and to bring perpetrators of attacks and killings to justice through thorough, prompt and impartial investigations in accordance with international law [...] We note with great concern that this case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea [...] We urge the Government to take urgent action to prevent further cases through education, to provide protection to persons accused of sorcery and witnesses of sorcery-related killings, and to provide medical and psychosocial treatment for victims.” Let us hope that the death of Kepari Leniata was not in vain, and this will trigger safeguards against this horror happening again in Papua New Guinea.
The Pagan Newswire Collective bureau in Minnesota reports on the 6th anniversary of the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance, and debates whether there will be a 7th as membership has dwindled in recent years. Quote: “The organization notes that while over 300 people have been involved with UMPA over the past six years, membership has dwindled and that is prompting leadership to ask members and the community, ‘… does this mean UMPA is no longer needed? We don’t know. This is an opportunity gather for a great meal, entertainment, and to join in and discuss the future of UMPA; either find some new leadership and participation, or dissolve the organization and pass on any funds raised to another non-profit.’”
Author and magician Donald Michael Kraig has been named “Acquisitions Editor: Magic(k) and Occult Topics” over at Llewellyn Worldwide and he wants you to write! Quote: “I’ve been fortunate enough to travel all over the U.S. and Europe giving workshops. Everywhere I go I hear the same sort of thing, “I could write a better book!” Whenever I hear people say that I encourage them! “Please do! We need new books and better books all the time.” Some of the people I’ve encouraged have gone on to write numerous popular books. They had the determination to do the work and see it through to the end. I congratulate them!” Congratulations to Kraig on his new role!
Science Fiction blog io9 takes the new film version of The Sorcerer and the White Snake to task for making a religious/supernatural persecutor the hero, when he should have been the villain. Quote: “If [Jet] Li had simply been a villain — or if the movie had allowed him to be –- White Snake could have surpassed a lot of the limitations it sets upon itself; one genuinely interesting performance can make up for a lot of mediocre special effects. In one version of the original Chinese fairy tale, Fahai actually is the villain — although he’s a vengeful terrapin demon who takes the form of a monk, rather than an actual monk. But I can’t help but think that would have been a better choice for everyone.”
While I’m on the subject of io9, they review a recent episode of the show Supernatural that apparently had an abundance of OTO/Crowley references. Quote: “Last night’s episode of Supernatural had a lot to offer: a hot lady in a great 1950s dress, several Aleister Crowley references, and at least one trip to the coolest comic book store in the world.” [Hat-tip Invocatio]
It seems that Satan totally loves the full moon.
What do you do when you rely on the conservative Christian vote, but know that the country is getting more and more religiously diverse? Can you please one without alienating the other? Quote: “The challenge confronting the GOP as it attempts to broaden its base is not limited to Jewish voters. A survey conducted by Pew last year found that more than six in ten (61%) non-Christian affiliated Americans (a group that includes Hindus, Jews and Muslims) agreed that ‘religious conservatives have too much control over the Republican Party.’ Nearly two-thirds of religiously unaffiliated Americans also affirmed this statement. These groups are among the fastest-growing religious communities in the U.S. And if the GOP is serious about appealing to these voters, its candidates must navigate the difficult path of keeping conservative Christians engaged and committed while not appearing beholden to them.”

A fiasidi pauses to say a silent prayer while sweeping the pathway between the shrines for the male Togbui Adzima deity and his wife, Mama Wena in the sacred forest. Photo: Dana Romanoff/The Revealer

The Revealer looks at life in and around the Adzima shrines in Ghana. Quote: “While visitors shape much of the activity in the shrines, they are also homes for the priests, their wives and their children. Since a priest is rarely allowed to leave the proximity of the shrine, his wives take turns staying with him and cooking his meals. The priests’ wives have their own homes nearby, built for them either by the priest or on their own, where they reside intermittently, along with their children or relatives. The priest’schildren visit daily, asking for lunch money and school fees. The shrines are not simply or only religious spaces—they’re households, with children running around, studying for school, preparing meals, washing clothes, and entertaining guests.” This is an amazing piece, please go read the whole thing.
Rev. Irene Monroe writes about how Haitian Vodou is accepting of LGBTQ people, even if some of the individual practitioners are not. Quote: “Gay males in Haitian Vodou embrace the divine protection of Erzulie Freda, the feminine spirit of love and sexuality. Gay males are allowed to imitate and worship her. Lesbians are under the patronage of Erzulie Dantor, a fierce protector of women and children experiencing domestic violence. Erzulie Dantor is bisexual and prefers the company women. Labalèn is a gynandrous or intersexual spirit. And LaSirèn who is the Vodou analogue of Yemayá, a maternal spirit, is a revered transgender.”
Oh, and Vodou didn’t cause the Superbowl blackout, in case you were wondering.
At HuffPo ReligionPagan and interfaith minister Wes Isley has an honest question about grief. Quote: “Maybe that sense of spiritual isolation after grief is universal no matter what faith we practice. And maybe I’ll feel more like my old self in six months or so. But what if I don’t? What if I abandon this Pagan path? I’ve already lost my partner; must I lose my faith, too? This brings me to my central dilemma: Whatever spiritual path we choose should be able to sustain us through the toughest of times; if it fails to do so, is it worth keeping? Once before, I changed my faith when it no longer made sense and failed to sustain. Is that about to happen again?” Maybe some of my wiser readers can help him out?

That’s it for now! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of these I may expand into longer posts as needed.

PNC: In Syria and Egypt, Pagan Voices Fall Silent

Jason Pitzl-Waters — January 19, 2013 — 21 Comments

[The following article is reprinted from the PNC Minnesota bureau, and reported by Cara Schulz.]

Areas where there is political turmoil or fighting are often difficult places for even those in the mainstream of a culture to live in. It’s even harder for people on the fringe of society as they face confusion, uncertainty, deteriorating living conditions, and daily fear for personal safety. Those set apart by ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, political views, or religion are the most vulnerable to loss of property or even loss of life. In Syria and Egypt, two countries currently experiencing political turmoil or civil war, one by one Pagan voices have fallen silent.

Syrians demonstrate in the coastal city of Banias against the regime of hard-line leader Bashar Assad in the spring of 2011. (Syrian Freedom via Creative Commons)

There are eight Pagans, three in Egypt and five in Syria, that I have regular contact with online. They had always been cautious about revealing their religion to people within their country and expressed dismay over their isolation, but they were happy to talk online and wanted to know what American Pagans, especially those who practice Mesopotamian or Kemetic religions, were doing.

Egypt

The Egyptian Pagans, who were elated at the fall of Muburak, expressed hope that a truly democratic government would emerge in Egypt. Then, concerns crept in at the increasing power of the Muslim Brotherhood. Karim saw the Brotherhood as a threat to both his country and to him, as a Pagan, personally. Over the past seven months, the lag in communication grew as he became more politically involved and went to rallies and protests. He expressed fear that pagans and other religious minorities were in increasing danger and that the Christians would sacrifice people like him to the Brotherhood to appease them. The other two Pagans I communicate with followed a similar pattern. Elation, followed by concern, followed by fear and determination. Then silence. I have no way of finding out if they are simply too involved with the political turmoil in Egypt to respond, if they are keeping quiet to avoid suspicion, or anything else. It’s been three months since I have heard from any of them.

Syria

The situation in Syria appears to be more grave, according to the last messages I received from the five Pagans I chat with regularly. They spoke of the fighting and how places looked like Beirut, buildings just shells of themselves, rubble blocking the streets. They detailed neighbors going missing. Islamic fundamentalist patrols that monitor behavior and took violent action against people who violated rules and customs. They debated fleeing, worried about being outed as a Pagan, and started destroying or burying altars. Three began attending local mosques to show their devotion to Islam.

Yana dropped off first. I last heard from her in June of 2012. Bayan, another Syrian Pagan, also hadn’t heard from her but said fighting in her area was intense. He said he had seen patrols targeting young women and men, beating them and he said it was rumored they were raping them. He thought perhaps she fled to a safer area or was silent to avoid detection.

That was the last email I received from Bayan. Like dominoes the other Syrian Pagans went silent. No emails or texts. No word on their safety. I keep hoping I will hear something, but it’s been several months and still no word.

I reached out to a Pagan in Lebanon, Adon, to see what he has heard about his coreligionists in Syria and Egypt. Although he’s not in the same country, he’s much closer than I am. I asked Adon if he had heard from Pagans in Egypt and Syria.

I haven’t heard of my pagan friends in Syria for a while too now, i know at least three of them who moved to other countries, especially Algeria, and United Arab emirates, but i have lost their contact in the process. The others are still silent, so they’re either disconnected, moved from the country, or worse. It’s hard to tell at the moment, pagans in the Near East were already several secluded clusters of individuals who don’t have a lot of contact with each other before everything started to happen. This is the case even in Lebanon where it’s relatively easier to be open about one’s religious identity.

I didn’t had any contact previously with Egyptian pagans, but they’re probably fine, but everyone in Egypt is too distracted to think about anything but politics and survival at the moment, i’ve had trouble having a decent conversation even with non-pagan egyptian friends in the past few months.

Anyway, you’re right that the atmosphere is getting a lot less safer for non-muslims in general and even for less devoted muslims. It’s very risky to even discuss religion in Syria at the moment, whether we were in the areas controlled by the regime or by the rebels. In Egypt the situation is a bit brighter since there’s a larger civil society and minorities in general and things are still relatively peaceful. However, the general feeling here is that this is temporary, the Islamists are taking the lead now after being in the shadows for decades, and all this will catalyze the process of getting over fundamental Islamism faster. - Adon

My hope is that peace and liberty come to this region of the world. I hope my friends are safe and that someday soon, they can live without fear. That their voices are once again heard and this terrible silence ends. May Anu and Horus watch over them.

In Paganism, Religion Cara Schulz, Egypt, Islam, Lebanon, Middle East, Paganism, PNC-Minnesota, Syria

Libertarian Candidate Connects With Pagan Volunteers

Jason Pitzl-Waters — September 20, 2012 — 19 Comments

While the two major political parties garner the lion’s share of press and attention, third party candidates for President of the United Sates often struggle to garner attention, equal treatment, and the votes of individuals dissatisfied with the status quo. Many modern Pagans, already predisposed towards questioning the dominant narratives in our culture, have flocked to the Green Party or the Libertarian Party depending on where they fall on various social, foreign policy, and economic issues. In 2008, around 8% of Pagans polled by Witchvox said they were going to vote for a third party, a number that may have been depressed by the Libertarian ticket running noted anti-Pagan activist Bob Barr. This election cycle, with many voters frustrated with the lack of forward movement on a number of issues, third party candidates could see increased numbers among frustrated demographics, religious minorities included.

PNC Managing Editor, Cara Schulz with Presidential candidate Gov. Gary Johnson

One third party politician that has already made a very public splash with modern Pagans is Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, who held a historic press conference with representatives of Pagan and Hindu organizations. When asked why he took the time to talk to religious minorities who have little sway over large voting blocs, Johnson said: “I am going to go out on a limb here and say that you are opinion makers. People look to you for your opinions because you take the time to be well informed.” Nor did Johnson backtrack when the mainstream press took notice, telling the Pagan Newswire Collective that “there was no consternation within my campaign about any of the feedback that we got on that event. No consternation.” Because of this, Johnson has sparked the interest of many Libertarian-leaning Pagans, including the Pagan Newswire Collective’s Cara Schulz, who is acting as a volunteer coordinator for an upcoming speaking event at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. I quizzed Schulz about her support for Johnson, and why she’s throwing her support behind a third party candidate when the common wisdom often says such votes are “thrown away.”

“It’s considered conventional wisdom that if you vote for a Third Party you’re throwing your vote away. I think we need to reconsider what throwing our vote away means. We complain about how the two major political parties ignore Pagans at best and are hostile to us at worst, with a heavy sprinkling of mockery thrown in for the LULZ. Yet we reward them by voting for them. We need examine what a thrown away vote is. If you’re voting for someone who won’t have anything to do with you and won’t stand up for you when it’s politically chancy to do, isn’t that throwing away your vote? I’ll be throwing away my vote for a candidate who doesn’t run away from the evil or silly Pagans and treats us with respect, like he treats any other citizen. You can bet if he takes heat for having Pagans perform at his rally, like he took heat for the Pagan media townhall, he won’t care.”

Schulz added that “in Presidential elections I’ve voted Republican and Democrat. Not this year. In a video Johnson asks people to ‘be Libertarian with me for one election’ and that’s what I’m doing.” In addition to Schulz’s support, local band Murphey’s Midnight Rounders, made up entirely of Pagan singers and musicians, will be giving an opening performance . In an editorial posted to the PNC-Minnesota bureau, Brad Murphey of Murphey’s Midnight Rounders explains why he was willing to play at this event, and be seen as aligned with Johnson’s campaign.

“Why did I agree to play for the Gary Johnson Rally? Because Gary Johnson is speaking to needs and changes that affect Pagans and sub-cultures that are related to it. Because the more we stand up and address those needed changes, the more will get done. Because it’s time for us all to get up off the couch and stop barking at the TV. Murphey’s Midnight Rounders is not a Pagan Band, per se. We are a Folk Band (we like to call it ‘Power Folk’). Our music addresses what we feel and who we are. At the same time, all of us in the band are Pagan, so a big percentage of our music speaks to that subject: honoring Deity, tradition, and approaching the goddess with mirth and reverence. That being said, for a band that is all Pagan and sings about Pagan issues, it was an honor to be asked to sing at a rally for a presidential candidate. It says a lot about him, that, as a candidate, he is more open and supportive of the Pagan religions.”

Murphey also noted how he things Pagan ideals and Libertarian ideals align, saying that “We, as Pagans, tend to profess acceptance (or at least tolerance) of individuality and lifestyles that we may not subscribe to” and “Paganism tends to embrace and defend many sub-cultures that have been marginalized by (dare I say it?) mainstream thought.” There has long been a trend toward small-l libertarian values among more conservative Pagans, many of whom are uninterested in fighting the Christian-fueled “culture wars,” but are interested in fiscally conservative ideas and a less interventionist foreign policy. Indeed, Republican New York congressional candidate Dan Halloran, now well-known for his Heathen faith, is also seeking to run on the Libertarian ticket, a gambit that benefited him when he won a seat on New York’s City Council.

Just as the Green Party has drawn progressives unhappy with the Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party seems to be a haven for conservatives that couldn’t find room inside the Republican Party’s “big tent.” These ”Ron Paul Republicans” are finding Johnson to be an alternative who speaks to their values.

“[State representative candidate Kevin] Kervick, a Republican, publicly endorsed Johnson on Wednesday, saying he thinks the country is “broken,” and he doesn’t see the national Republican or Democratic parties doing anything to fix it. He said he still supports Republican candidates for governor and other state offices, but can’t bring himself to endorse Romney.”

For many, including Schulz, Johnson is the inclusive, socially “cool,” conservative voice they have been waiting for.

“There were no questions about religion and there never is with the Johnson campaign. They don’t care about your religion or how your religion reflects on them, they care about how well you can do your job.”

For those in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, the Johnson event starts tomorrow (Friday) at 12:30 CDT. Organized by the Macalester Young Americans for Liberty. You can get the details, here.

[This article is the first in a series exploring how modern Pagans are interacting with the presidential race. Are you a Pagan who is volunteering with the Democratic, Republican, or Green Party? Drop me a line, and you may be quoted in a future installment!]

In Paganism, Religion 2012 Presidential Race, Cara Schulz, Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party, Murphey’s Midnight Rounders, Paganistan, PNC-Minnesota, politics

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Pagan Community Notes: Kyrja Withers, Hexenfest, Pentacle Quest, and More!

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

The Fall of a Syrian Pagan

Quick Notes: Sarah Pike, James Arthur Ray, Orion Foxwood

Pagan Fundraising Initiatives: The Ancient Egyptian Daybook, Doreen’s Blue Plaque, and More!

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

Pagan Community Notes: Pagan Spirit Gathering, Cherry Hill Seminary, The Pagan Voice, and More!

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

PNC: In Syria and Egypt, Pagan Voices Fall Silent

Libertarian Candidate Connects With Pagan Volunteers

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