Archives For Television

Working with the Dead in Pennsylvania

Stacey Lawless —  April 19, 2013 — 3 Comments

Ghosts have become popular in the last decade or so. Paranormal investigation, or “ghost hunting,” shows chronicle the adventures of people armed with an assortment of sensory equipment, most of which is easily available online in case you want to start your own investigative team. Or you can apply for admission to one of the many teams already in existence. For those who want to dabble in exploring hauntings, but not jump into the life of a researcher, there are scores of haunted sites and ghost tours you can pay to visit.

What has stirred up this interest in ghosts? One theory is that the availability of sensory devices like EMF readers and the ovilus have made it possible for more people to go out in the field and pursue their interests in the paranormal. That doesn’t answer the question of where the interest comes from, though. Is ghost-seeking simply another manifestation of America’s current interest in the occult? Is it an attempt to scientifically evaluate the existence of spirits (rather like some forms of 19th century Spiritualism)? Some investigators seem to be doing a grown-up version of legend-tripping, armed with gadgets instead of candles and incense.

Other investigators, though, have gotten involved because they want to help the dead.

Ahmadi Riverwolf

Ahmadi Riverwolf

I spoke with two women who work with Cressona Paranormal in Pennsylvania. Ahmadi Riverwolf is a Yayi Nganga in Palo Kimbisa (a Yayi is a full priestess, Palo Kimbisa is another rama of Palo – a different denomination from Mayombe, so to speak). Jhada Addams is an Omo Yemaya (a Santera crowned to the Orisha Yemaya). Both had mediumistic tendencies before initiating into their respective African Traditional Religions, but have since discovered a calling to help the dead. Ahmadi has been on a couple of investigations with Cressona Paranormal, while Jhada has served as a consultant on one.

Jhada: For me – my entire gig is trying to give the spirit what it needs to elevate. Light. Prayers. Songs. If it needs to go, I help it break free so it can go. If it wants to stay, I then have a conversation with the homeowner about how to live in harmony with the spirit.

Ahmadi: They want to be acknowledged, they have unfinished business, or they need help to be elevated. Sometimes they want to leave where they are and don’t know how.

I asked Jhada and Ahmadi how working with the paranormal team fit their religious practices. Both stressed the deep importance of the ancestors in the ATRs.

Jhada: In both Palo and Santeria, ancestors are VENERATED. Appreciated and incorporated into daily life. You have to remember that from which you came. It’s ESSENTIAL. There are so many spirits out there, cast adrift because so many people in this country can’t handle death – it’s heartbreaking.

Ahmadi: They deserve respect, honor, acknowledgement. We would not exist without them.

I asked them to expand on this a little. There’s a difference between ghosts or restless dead and ancestors in the ATRs – ancestors have “crossed over,” to use the common phrase. They can and do act in the lives of their descendants, but are refined, profound spiritual forces, not the confused shades typically encountered in true hauntings.

Jhada: I’ve run across urns that people had simply dropped off in antique or oddities/bargain shops – with just a rime of ashes in the bottom. The family member didn’t even care enough to wash the urn out properly.

Ahmadi: That just sickened me.

There was a time I found a headstone carelessly chucked into a rubbish heap in a local cemetery. I picked it up and could hear a woman cry that she had been forgotten. The loneliness of the spirit was palpable. I took her home and she’s been on my altar ever since, decorated with bling and happy.

Jhada: I do what I can to ease their spirits, and their crossing.

By working with Cressona Paranormal, Ahmadi and Jhada explained, they benefitted from all the perspectives the team brings to their investigations – including practical experience with things that go bump in the night for entirely mundane reasons, like plumbing.

Jhada Addams

Jhada Addams

Ahmadi: Sometimes our beliefs can color our judgment. We need to approach these cases with a spiritual, yet clinical eye sometimes. We are going into people’s houses. ANYTHING could happen. Many are things not paranormal at all. Or magic.

Calming people down is sometimes the biggest challenge.

Ahmadi also noted that many physical conditions, allergies, and pharmaceutical side effects can produce symptoms that may seem like spiritual activity.

For those who think they might be interested in working with the dead, Jhada and Ahmadi stressed that the best first step is start honoring the ancestors.

Ahmadi: Anyone can set up an ancestor altar and light a candle and a glass of water. Set up a spot with mementos and pictures.

Jhada: And, honestly, everybody should. If nothing else, for their own dead.

Ahmadi: And if something happens like flickering lights or an opening door, say Hello!!

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Seasons of the Witch: Perceptions of Witchcraft in Movies and TV

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  February 6, 2013 — 48 Comments

Pop-cultural moments come and go, and the witch has had its share. Each time the figure of the “Witch” means something slightly different, though often focused on the power of women. In the 1940s and 1950s, films like I Married a Witch (1942) and Bell, Book and Candle (1958) showed a witch’s power conquered by their love of a “mortal” man; a trope that was subverted in the 1960s and early 1970s by the television series Bewitched, where it’s clear that Samantha is the smarter, more powerful, partner.

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“Samantha was representative of suburban domestic ideals. However, at a time when women were beginning to have their horizons broadened, Samantha’s supernatural abilities conjured up the promise of women’s liberation and the unleashing of female power that was to come.” 

However, this particular theme of housewife witches turned to darker territory in the late 1960s and the 1970s. You had the Satanic coven in Rosemary’s Baby (1968) trying for an Antichrist, and the evil witch coven in Suspiria (1977), perhaps reflecting the darker turn culture took during that era. When you start examining witches in movies, you’ll see the pendulum swinging back and forth, empowerment, and fear of that very empowerment. By the 1990s, the rising religious Witchcraft movement started influencing these films, blurring the lines between the fantasy witch and real Witches, most evident in films like The Craft (1996) and television shows like Charmed (1998) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). Still, the evil fantasy witch persisted during this time, most famously in The Blair Witch Project (1999).

Today, the figure of the fantasy witch, influenced both by religious Witchcraft, and the pop-cultural ups and downs of previous generations, seems more popular than ever. In an atmosphere where vampires, werewolves, and zombies are big box office, there seems to be an ongoing expectation that witches will join that pantheon of tortured pathos and veiled commentary about modern life. This time television led the way with witches (and sometimes Wiccans) regularly appearing in True Blood, (the now-canceled) Secret Circle, and The Vampire Diaries. This year, 2013, seems to be the biggest yet, with a variety of big-budget films featuring an assortment of good and bad witches heading to the screens, starting with the (by all accounts very bad) movie Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.

That clunker of a film will soon give way to something even darker, Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem which seems very much an homage to the Rosemary’s Baby/Suspiria Satanic witch-meme.

Before that hits this Fall, we’ll have Oz The Great And Powerful in March, which updates the “good” and “bad” witches of that fantasy world, a prequel to the film version of The Wizard of Oz, perhaps the most famous film featuring witches (a film which has been reevaluated in recent years thanks to the musical Wicked).

Those are only the beginning. We also have The Seventh Son and Beautiful Creatures on the way this year, and another witch-hunting movie, The Last Witch Hunter, slated for next year. Television will also see a new witch-themed series in Witches of East End out this year, joining an already-impressive lineup of fictional witches and spell-casters on cable and network TV.

I’m commenting on this now because I think it’s important that we start discerning what all these witches are telling the viewers. What does the witch do? Is witchcraft evil? Good? A neutral technology? What theology, if any, is included in these works? How will it reflect on those of us who call ourselves Witches in the real world? As much as some of us would like to simply ignore pop-culture, we know first-hand that it does inspire people to seek out the “real” thing. Those of us who lived through the “Teen Witch” boom of the 1990s know how powerful films like The Craft were in making kids curious about Wicca and other forms of religious Witchcraft. 

A still from "The Craft."

A still from “The Craft.”

Organizations and groups that advocate for modern Witchcraft will have to be ready to field questions, to handle journalists that will inevitably want to talk to “real” Witches when these various films come out, and to deal with blatant self-promoters who want to grab this moment by the tail. As “witches” join the paranormal urban fantasy soup in greater and greater numbers, we will have to be savvier than ever, because these works  do shift perceptions, and we can’t ignore their magic.

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Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  February 2, 2013 — 5 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.

  • It’s Groundhog Day! That day of the year in which we all sit down to watch one of Bill Murray’s finest films. It’s also Candlemas. 
  • If you’re a dealer in outsider art, you simply must have a Witch. Quote: “When asked why she decided to participate in the fair for the first time this year, Santa Fe dealer Laura Steward succinctly explained, ‘One of my artists is a witch,’ referring to sculptor Erika Wanenmacher, a.k.a. Ditch Witch. ‘I like this fair because it’s more interested in people, in the artist’s minds.’”
  • More witchcraft-television is coming your way thanks to the Lifetime network. Quote: “Based on Melissa de la Cruz’s best-selling novel, Witches Of East End centers on the adventures of Joanna Beauchamp (Ormond) and her two adult daughters Freya (Dewan-Tatum) and Ingrid (Boston) — both of whom unknowingly are their family’s next generation of witches. Amick stars as Joanna’s mischievous witch sister Wendy.”Will the television series go as far as the novels? If so, it will be very Pagan-y indeed. 
  • The very first Parliament of the World’s Religion in 1893 wasn’t all handshakes and pluralism, Michael J. Altman at the Religion in American History blog points out that Swami Vivekananda (representing Hinduism  had some very pointed critiques of the dominant monotheisms that were essentially edited out of the official history. Quote: “We who come from the East have sat here on the platform day after day and have been told in a patronizing way that we ought to accept Christianity because Christian nations are the most prosperous. We look about us and we see England, the most prosperous Christian nation in the world with her foot on the neck of 250,000,000 of Asiatics. We look back into history and see that the prosperity of Christian Europe began with Spain. Spain’s prosperity began with the invasion of Mexico. Christianity wins its prosperity by cutting the throats of its fellow men. At such a price the Hindoo will not have prosperity.” As is almost always the case, the truth is messier than the narrative crafted by history. 
  • Congratulations to Crystal Blanton on the publication of her new book, “Pain and Faith in a Wiccan World: Spirituality, Ethics and Transformation.” Quote:  “[The book] fuses spirituality and counseling concepts to add a deeper layer of personal growth and connection to living the Wiccan path. This book looks beyond the concepts of ritual and reaches into previously untouched territory within the Pagan book market to address thriving as a Pagan.” Crystal is a friend, and someone who truly walks her talk. Be sure to check this out. 
  • M. Macha Nightmare adds her own take on the recent Claremont Pagan Studies Conference. Quote: “Others have written about Sabina Magliocco’s keynote speech on Saturday on “The Rise of Pagan Fundamentalism.”  I will only add a few notions I jotted down.  She spoke of the fact that foundational narratives foster group cohesion, and the core experiences are those common to all people of all religions.  She pointed out that the reconstructed traditions are growing faster than witchen traditions, and that their practitioners tends to disdain syncretism.” For more on this, check out the guest post from Patrick Wolff here at The Wild Hunt. 

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.

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Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  September 14, 2012 — 18 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.

Herdswomen with beautiful floral cow. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

  • The altar of art: “The faithful who came to meditate on a fresco of Giotto’s or a painting by Caravaggio sought a personal experience of the divine, the feeling that they themselves were present, witnessing the mystery being represented, a miracle that was being enacted specially for them. At the MoMA show, the artist’s presence offered transcendence through communion and intimacy, in the privacy that Abramović was able to create in a crowded atrium. Watching the documentary, I thought: This is the moment in which we live. Alienated, unmoored, we seek our salvation, one by one, from the artist who brings us the comforting news: I see you. I weep when you weep. The mystery, and the miracle, is that you exist.”
  • This is awesome. So is this.

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.

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Should Fatal Encounters Fill in the Blanks on Witchcraft Slaying?

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  April 26, 2012 — 10 Comments

Through 2010, and into the beginning of 2011, I covered the case of Angela Sanford, a Wiccan who killed Joel Leyva in what some media described as a ritualistic sacrifice. While Sanford initially said the killing was in self-defense after Leyva tried to rape her, that story started to unravel when evidence surfaced that the violent encounter may have been premeditated. Ultimately, Sanford plead no contest to second-degree murder, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Now, the story is being dramatized for the show Fatal Encounters on the Investigation Discovery (ID) cable network, and local press are worried that ID may be stretching the truth to make good TV.

Actors portraying Angela Sanford and Joel Levya.

Actors portraying Angela Sanford and Joel Leyva.

“A mysterious Albuquerque murder that may have been a sacrifice is about to be featured on a national TV show. But did the show stretch the truth in the murder of Joel Leyva? [...] Leyva and Angela Sanford met at the Downs Casino a few days before his murder. No one knows what the two talked about but the show tries to fill in the blanks.  “It’s believed the conversation soon takes an unexpected turn when Angela tells Joel that she is a practicing Wiccan,” the shows announcer said.”

However, according to KASA reporter Alex Tomlin, sources say Leyva was never informed about Sanford’s religion, and that their arranged meeting was about sex, not a chaste and friendly hike as the program portrays it. Leyva, in the preview clip, is portrayed as something close to a Christian minister who loved the outdoors and doted on his children. The only interview shown is with Leyva’s brother, who reinforces that image. But all reports from the time center on sex, the only real question was if it was consensual or not. That Mr. Leyva may have allegedly wanted to hook up with Sanford doesn’t in any way excuse his murder, but I find it problematic that the show is already traveling down the road of whitewashing the narrative to make it more dramatic. It makes one wonder what other facts or standing assumptions from the investigation they will play fast-and-loose with.

The problem with the Angela Sanford case is that nobody really knows, except for Sanford herself, the truth of that day. Considering the mental state of Sanford, that she stabbed him repeatedly, was a rape survivor who had a phobia about men according to one ex-boyfriend, and listed Leyva as a “sacrifice” on her phone, even she may not know the truth of that time. Also concerning is how Sanford’s religion will be worked into the narrative. The Fatal Encounters site links to a an explanation of “white magic or Wicca” from one of their supernatural-themed programs that sounds like it was written in the 1970s.

“Christianity tolerated the old pagan ways for hundreds of years, and it was not seen as something evil, but just another type of faith. During the Middle Ages, the church began to turn against the pagan faith and the word “witch” became a derogatory term. If a child died, if an animal became ill or if crops failed, the local witch was blamed. Witches were accused of devil worship and black magic, and thousands of people, mostly women, were tried for witchcraft. Many confessed under torture and were hanged or burned at the stake.

The first Witchcraft Act was passed in England in 1542 and wasn’t repealed until 1951. Today Wicca is described as a neo-pagan religion, and white witches observe the old religion of the Earth Mother and Sky Father. They believe that the power of magic comes from focusing their attention and suggest that spirits can intervene with their consciousness. There is no central authority and witches, male and female, sometimes belong to a coven, but can worship alone.”

This does not fill me with confidence. Will they portray Sanford as a fallen or corrupted “white Witch,” and the murder as a ritualistic sacrifice? What experts on the religion did they interview? Will they explore the fact that some local Pagans doubted that Sanford was Wiccan at all? I suppose we’ll have to wait until April 30th when the program airs to find out.

Programs like these can create damaging narratives in search of a “thrilling” murder story, upping the contrasts and the drama for the viewer’s entertainment, until the true events are obscured even further. I hope that isn’t the case here, because the last thing our community needs is people thinking that “Wiccan sacrifices,” just like the ones recently dreamed up by Catholic columnist Christina Odone, are real, and not simply the sad result of an unbalanced mind.

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Quick Notes: Christopher Vaughn’s Druid Beliefs, John Friend’s Scandal, and the Occult Crimes Taskforce

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  March 30, 2012 — 2 Comments

Just a few quick news notes for you today.

Lawyers May Not Mention Druid Beliefs in Vaughn Murder Trial: Earlier this week I mentioned that lawyers for Christopher Vaughn, accused of murdering his wife and three children, were trying to block any mention of his Druid religion from court proceedings.  Public Defender Jaya Varghese said that “The word ‘Druid’ alone is prejudicial,” and would “significantly impact” his right to a fair trial. Today, Judge Daniel Rozak ruled that Vaughn’s Druid beliefs may not be mentioned at trial, though comments he made on a Druid listserv can be referenced.

Vaughn family photo from 2007.

Vaughn family photo from 2007.

“A Will County judge this morning barred attorneys from referring to quadruple-murder suspect Christopher Vaughn’s Druid beliefs at trial, but said some statements Vaughn posted to a Druid listserv can be heard by jurors. [...] Prosecutors want to use postings Vaughn made to Druid listservs that refer to his desire to live in the Canadian wilderness. They argue his statements were another sign that Vaughn wanted to be rid of his family. [...] Judge Daniel Rozak said he would allow the statements “if they somehow deal with leaving the country or living off the land” and don’t reference Vaughn’s religious beliefs.”

How messages Christopher Vaughn posted to Druid websites are to be referenced must still be decided, though this should be seen as a win for Vaughn’s defense team. Vaughn lawyer claims his wife killed the children, before he could kill her in self-defense, while prosecutors allege that Vaughn calculatedly eliminated his family in order to be rid of them. The trial is slated to begin in August.

The Washington Post Weighs in on the John Friend Anusara Yoga Scandal: Manuel Roig-Franzia writes about the “contorting” (ha-ha) scandal within the Anusara yoga school for the Washington Post, taking brief note of the Wiccan-related accusations against Anusara founder John Friend.

Anusara Yoga founder John Friend.

Anusara Yoga founder John Friend.

“In conference calls, e-mails and hushed conversations, Friend has admitted to sexual relations with students and employees and married women. He has confessed to cheating on one girlfriend and smoking marijuana, according to senior Anusara instructors who have participated in conference calls with him. And he has acknowledged leading an otherwise all-female Wiccan coven whose members sometimes took off all their clothes for gatherings, according to senior Anusara instructors who detailed his admissions in a written summary provided to The Washington Post. The coven’s name was the Blazing Solar Flames, and Friend had Anusara’s graphics team design a logo for it, according to three former employees.”

This is the first I’ve seen of any acknowledgement from Friend or Anusara regarding the coven. As I’ve reported previously (follow-up, here), accusations state that he used the coven as a pretext for sexual liaisons. While there’s no further statement, or mention of it in the WP article, the fact that Friend was the acknowledged male leader of an all-female coven does raise some red flags. That said, taking your clothes off for gatherings isn’t unusual within Traditional Witchcraft (it’s called going “skyclad”), and isn’t seen as an automatic prelude to sexy-times. You can see a video interview with Friend from last year about how Anusara yoga, Wicca, and Paganism interface.

The Occult Crimes Taskforce is Coming To the Your Television: Various pop-culture news sites are reporting that the comic book OCT: Occult Crimes Taskforce is being adapted into a television series for the A&E Network. Actress and OCT co-creator Rosario Dawson is working with The Walking Dead’s Gale Anne Hurd to adapt the work, and it is widely assumed that Dawson will star in the show, as the main character, Sophia Ortiz, is modeled on her.

Image from the O.C.T. comic, featuring Sophia Ortiz/Rosario Dawson.

Image from the O.C.T. comic, featuring Sophia Ortiz/Rosario Dawson.

“The scripted drama, an increasingly appealing genre for the cable network, will explore the inner workings of the task force, which was established after the Civil War to make the New York City streets safe from practitioners of black magic, demons from another dimension and all manner of supernatural malcontents.”

Scripted dramas, especially scripted dramas that feature occult and fantastic elements seem to be on the increase lately. It should be interesting to see if O.C.T. makes it to the small screen, and if it will find an appreciative audience. While I’m on the subject of occult-themed television, I should note that British television channel ITV2 has ordered a new drama entitled “Switch” about four witches living together in London. Created by the same people behind the show Being Human, can we expect an American version of that show on Syfy in the near-ish future?

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

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Richard Carpenter, creator of “Robin of Sherwood,” dies aged 78

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  March 3, 2012 — 10 Comments

On Sunday, February 26th, British screenwriter and author Richard ‘Kip’ Carpenter died at the age of 78 after suffering a heart attack. While Carpenter first came to popular acclaim in Britain thanks to his 1970 children’s show “Catweazle,” about a time-traveling 11th century sorcerer, for most people (particularly Pagans of a certain age) he’s known as the head writer and creator of “Robin of Sherwood.” That show, which ran on British television in the mid-1980s, and then later broadcast in America on Showtime and PBS, modernized the Robin Hood legend, adding new elements that would repeat in other adaptations. Most significantly, he threaded pagan survivals and sorcery throughout the story, making his Robin Hood the “Son of Herne,” the horned god of England.

Richard 'Kip' Carpenter

Richard 'Kip' Carpenter

“Robin Hood is one of the few perennial legends with no magic in it.  There is a fragment of a ballad called Robin Hood and the witch I believe – but tantalisingly breaks off after a stanza. The Middle Ages were extremely superstitious and much remained of the old pre-christian fertility and tree worship religions.  You must remember that the country was largely based on agriculture: and the crops and the turning year were extremely important to everyone.  Vestiges of this still remain throughout Europe.  Although the Mother Goddess was supreme – the male principle was considered equally important.  The question is whether Herne is a shaman or if he – like shamans do – ‘becomes’ the god at certain times after practising certain rituals.” – Richard Carpenter

While many Pagans, including me, love the cult-classic movie “The Wicker Man” for its portrayal of a Pagan society, it was really “Robin of Sherwood” that truly featured Paganism as a positive, life-affirming, nature-based, spirituality. One that worked to preserve human freedom and dignity, and fight against tyranny in all its forms.

“Well, obviously, we couldn’t use Merlin, because Merlin was part of the King Arthur legends. I cast around for a suitable mythological figure that was Celtic and of the earth, and it seemed to me that the old pre-Christian horned god – ‘Cernunnos,’ the Romans called him, ‘Herne’ we call him – was the ideal figure. ‘Herne’ as a place name crops up all over England. It’s quite likely that in those days, he was very much revered as a spirit of the forest by local people because everybody always paid their dues to the Church and at the same time threw salt over their left shoulder and [did] all the superstitious things which actually date back to pre-Christian times. I wanted to show that the folk beliefs could go on alongside the existing religion.” – Richard Carpenter

As a young Pagan, I was deeply impressed by seeing a couple of  ”Robin of Sherwood” episodes at a science fiction convention many, many years ago. I remember it really giving me a visceral feeling that the religion I was just entering was something real, something worthy of my time and attention. It molded me in ways that I feel persist today. Since then I’ve met many modern Pagans who see the show as a touchstone, a special program that affirmed their view of the world, and helped bind groups of people together. So I’d like to thank Richard Carpenter for his contributions, however unwitting, to modern Paganism. May his spirit rest, and may his creative accomplishments endure.

For those who are curious, who want to see “Robin of Sherwood,” you can order it on DVD and Blu-Ray (you can also order only the Michael Praed episodes, for those who aren’t fans of Jason Connery).

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Gerald Gardner Documentary Slated for 2012

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  December 26, 2011 — 25 Comments

Perhaps no figure looms as large on the history of modern religious Witchcraft (and in turn modern Paganism) than Gerald Gardner, who, depending on whom you ask, introduced the heretofore underground religion of Wicca to the wider world, or simply created it from a variety of esoteric and folkloric sources. Whatever one’s stance is on the providence of Wicca, all agree that Gardner played an essential role in developing what would become a world religion practiced everywhere from India to Lebanon and Brazil in less than sixty years. As historian Ronald Hutton notes in “The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft” Wicca has unique significance due to it being “the only religion which England has ever given the world.” Now Gardner, with the help of Hutton, will be the subject of an hour-long documentary on Channel 4 in Britain.

Publicity still from "Britain's Wicca Man".

Publicity still from "Britain's Wicca Man".

“Britain’s Wicca Man tells the extraordinary story of Britain’s fastest growing religious group – Wicca – modern pagan witchcraft – and of its creator, an eccentric Englishman called Gerald Gardner. Historian and leading expert in Pagan studies, Professor Ronald Hutton, explores Gardner’s story and experiences first hand Wicca’s growing influence throughout Britain today.”

The documentary, commissioned by Channel 4, is being produced by Matchlight, who expand a bit more on the film at their web site.

“Its a journey that takes in tales of naked witches casting spells to ward off Hitler, tabloid hysteria about human sacrifices and Gerald Gardner himself appearing on Panorama. The film tells of a peculiar man who saw that the world was ready for a new religion based on magic, sex nature and ritual – and gave it to us.  In doing so, he created in Wicca, the UK’s first religion, one that has taken on a life of its own and is today counted amongst one of the fastest growing faith groups in the world. Through interviews and encounters with Wicca followers, experts and these who knew Gardner,  Professor Hutton delves into this unusual world and the story of how its eccentric founder created a religion that is today increasingly seen as a valid alternative to the more orthodox faith groups.”

While this isn’t the first documentary to deal with Wicca, it is the first to focus exclusively on Gardner, and certainly the first to so prominently place a scholar and historian as the point-person in its explorations. Despite the occasional criticisms that have been launched toward Hutton’s work from within modern Pagan circles few can argue that he is deeply knowledgeable on the history of Wicca, well-read on the latest scholarship, and has extensive contacts with surviving associates (and initiates) of Gerald Gardner. One can only hope that Hutton will follow in the footsteps of Simon Schama or Michael Wood, and that this one-hour documentary ends up sparking a series of documentaries on the history of modern Paganism in Britain (I would love to see a multi-part treatment of “The Triumph of the Moon” or “Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain”).

Once we have an air date for “Britain’s Wicca Man,” or other pertinent information, I’ll update you here. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can talk to anyone involved in the documentary. A big hat-tip to Chas Clifton for letting us know this was in the works.

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UK Regulates Occult Advertising

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  December 23, 2011 — 35 Comments

The UK broadcasting regulatory body Ofcom (Office of Communications) has issued a new set of guidelines for ads peddling psychic and occult services. The new rules outright ban the selling of occult services on British television, and place restrictions on tarot and astrology programs.

“Television advertisements must not promote psychic practices or practices related to the occult [...] Psychic and occult-related practices include ouija, satanism, casting of spells, palmistry, attempts to contact the dead, divination, clairvoyance, clairaudience, the invocation of spirits or demons and exorcism. [...] Advertisements for personalised and live services that rely on belief in astrology, horoscopes, tarot and derivative practices are acceptable only on channels that are licensed for the purpose of the promotion of such services and are appropriately labelled: both the advertisement and the product or service itself must state that the product or service is for entertainment purposes only”.

This clarification and expansion of the guidelines has come during a rise of “participation” or “teleshopping” programs that peddle psychic solutions to life’s problems (“Psychic Sally,” for instance, which was dinged by Ofcom in July) . These programs are not only forced to label themselves as “for entertainment purposes only” but are also prohibited from using customer testimonials or giving bad news.

“Ofcom’s rules further have specific guidelines preventing presenters from predicting “negative experiences or specific events” in readings, such as births, deaths, marriages or new job, or offering “life-changing advice” related to health or finance.”

To be fair, Ofcom also regulates mainstream religious bodies from making supernatural claims in advertising, but its troubling that Satanism is singled out here, as it is a belief system and not simply an “occult practice.” We also enter into murky ground when determining what is “related to the occult” and what isn’t. Is Wicca “occult” or does it fall under the broader religious guidelines? I’m all for regulation that hinders scam-artists, but imprecise or misinformed wording could end up placing burdens on the expression of core belief systems, and not simply stopping bad actors. I’d be interested to hear what my UK readers think of this, and if they think the rules will be challenged.

 

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Witchcraft and Television

Jason Pitzl-Waters —  August 29, 2011 — 79 Comments

Not since the 1990s has witchcraft been such a popular subject matter within pop-culture. Wicca and Brujería mingle with more fantasy-oriented versions of witchcraft on the HBO series “True Blood,” while  the CW is set to launch “The Secret Circle” this Fall, a teen-oriented show based on a series of books that focuses on a coven of genetic witches. To top it all off, there seems to be plans for a new take on the 1960s classic television show “Bewitched”.

“In the latest classic TV title getting considered for a reboot, CBS and Sony are developing a script for remake of the classic sitcom Bewitched. This is still in very early stages, but it’s definitely a project worth keeping an eye on.”

Several media critics are skeptical of such a relaunch, but could this be a great opportunity to have a truly subversive show about witchcraft (or capital-W Witchcraft) on television? With the current craze of shows set in the 1960s (ie “Mad Men,” “The Playboy Club,” “Pan Am”) you could even make it a period piece with little trouble, thus avoiding much of the meta-horribleness that was the 2005 movie.

Witchcraft in television and movies has often worked best when it’s a signifier for something else. In the 1958 movie adaptation of “Bell, Book, and Candle” (of which, I have many strong opinions) witchcraft stands in for 1950s-era bohemia, women’s empowerment, and the gay subtext of Jack Lemmon’s Nicky. Much of this subtext was adopted, though further sanitized, when “Bewitched” launched five years later. By this time, real-live Witches of various stripes were making news in England, though it had yet to penetrate the American consciousness. Elizabeth Montgomery’s Samantha seemed to be embodying the bubbling tensions over feminism in the early seasons as she struggled to be the good wife while denying her innate power (much to the chagrin of her liberated mother).  While there’s no trace of religion in the show’s depiction of witchcraft, it did feature a eerily prescient episode in the first season where the witches decide to protest their depiction as ugly old Halloween hags.

“The Witches Are Out” from season one is the first episode where witches are presented as a minority group. They are referred to as such in the episode in which one of Darrin’ clients (portrayed by Shelley Berman) wants his Halloween candy represented by a wart-nosed, broom-riding witch. Meanwhile, Samantha and her witch committee are trying to actively combat the negative images associated with witches during Halloween.

A decade later figures like Laurie Cabot would be making the news for staging similar protests. So “Bewitched,” in a way, set the stage for real-live Witches while using the show’s “witchcraft” as a stand-in for other issues.

Today we exist in a world where Pagan religions and Witches are a reality, not a fantasy. The temptation to bring some of that into a fantasy setting can be overwhelming, though it often just produces confusing mish-mashes as seen in shows like “Charmed” or with characters like Willow in “Buffy”. You also see terribly overwrought metaphors in shows like “Camelot,” where magic=drug abuse. As seen with “True Blood,” such portrayals don’t endear you to those depicted. I think there should be a clear firewall between fantasy witchcraft, and modern Pagan religion. Let Samantha be Samantha (or let Willow be Willow), and let us decide what her magic means to us.

The minute you make a character Wiccan, you’re treading into theological waters that are best left alone. If a television show or movie wants to incorporate Pagans and Wiccans into a script, it should strive to portray them accurately instead of merging them with already well-established fantasy tropes. If you want Wiccans in a television drama, why not adapt The Bast Mysteries, or perhaps the work of MR Sellars? I think they’d work great on the PBS series “Mystery!”.

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