CHICAGO – The Parliament of the World’s Religions (PoWR) released a statement last week in response to the Vatican’s repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery.
In their statement, PoWR reaffirmed their continued support for Indigenous Peoples. The organization has both supported and provided a platform for declarations by Indigenous participants. During the Melbourne convening in 2009, which focused on the struggles of Indigenous peoples, particularly those in Australia, “An Indigenous People’s Statement to the World” was released. And again in 2015 at the Salt Lake City convening, another Indigenous declaration called for action on the rights of Indigenous communities to be upheld, including the disavowal and removal of ideology like that in the Doctrine of Discovery. In 2020, PoWR also submitted an internal statement to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
From the PoWR statement:
“The Parliament of the World’s Religions joins Indigenous Peoples and all those affected by the Doctrine of Discovery in affirming its formal repudiation by the Vatican, through an official statement released jointly on March 30 by the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
“A great number of Indigenous peoples, Catholic institutions, other religious bodies, civil society organizations, and individuals have advocated for many years for this much-needed repudiation. We join all those who have worked for this in commending the Vatican’s important action.”
On March 30 the Vatican released an official joint statement by the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, that formally repudiates “those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery’.”
The Doctrine of Discovery as defined by Cornell Law School:
“…refers to a principle in public international law under which, when a nation “discovers” land, it directly acquires rights on that land. This doctrine arose when the European nations discovered non-European lands, and therefore acquired special rights, such as property and sovereignty rights, on those lands. This principle disregards the fact that the land oftentimes is already inhabited by another nation. In fact, this doctrine was used in order to legitimize the colonization of lands outside of Europe.”
In essence, the Doctrine had been part of the foundational blocks for over 500 years that paved the way in legitimizing the colonization, subjugation, and oppression of Indigenous Peoples around the world. It’s repudiation by the Vatican is an important shift in policy and another step towards guaranteeing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the preservation of their cultures and lands around the world.
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Last month, the Illinois General Assembly unanimously passed legislation that would repatriate thousands of ancestral Native American remains in the state. Despite the passage of a federal law in 1990 – The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act – only a small fraction of the Indigenous remains and funerary artifacts held in state museums and universities have been returned when formal requests by tribal leaders have been filed.
As reported by ProPublica as part of their “The Repatriation Project,” over a hundred thousand Native remains within the U.S. continue to be held by institutions that are slow to respond to requests, despite the law for repatriation being in place for over three decades. While many museums and universities have pledged to return the artifacts and remains they house, until recently very few have acted on those pledges. Many have not allocated funding for the process either.
If the Illinois House legislation is passed by the state Senate and then signed into law, it would provide sweeping changes that include the creation of a cemetery where Native ancestral remains and their grave goods could be reinterred. The cemetery would be on land owned by the state, which would be required to safeguard the site from looting or any other acts of desecration, and not be open to the public.
Among the other items contained in the bill:
- creating an advisory committee comprised of over 30 tribal leaders who would review proposed construction and any other projects that might impact Native burial grounds or culturally significant sites;
- establish a Repatriation Fund to help offset the cost of the return and reburial of ancestral remains that would be funded in part by the fines collected from those who have been convicted of knowingly violating burial grounds and other Native sites;
- would establish that any Native American remains and funerary accoutrements buried in the state, as well as those accidentally discovered or unearthed on public lands would be transferred to Native American nations. Under current state burial law known as the Illinois Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act, (1989), the majority of Native American remains are considered property of the state.
Actions protecting Native remains, cultural sites, and ensuring the process of repatriation of artifacts and ancestral remains have continued to see renewed support not just within the U.S. but around the world.
Crossings of the Veil
Rachel Grace Pollack – August 17, 1945 – April 7, 2023
Award-winning author, Rachel Pollack crossed the veil last week after being diagnosed with a type of lymphoma last summer. She had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma six years ago and was in remission after undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatments.
Pollack’s extensive body of written works spanned both fiction and non-fiction, but within the Pagan and Pagan-adjacent communities, she is likely to be most remembered for her seminal work Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness.
Pollack wrote a number of books on tarot and created her own deck, The Shining Tribe Tarot, as well as contributing text for such notable decks as Salvador Dali’s Tarot and the Haindl Tarot. Her impact on tarot interpretations was immense and continues to help guide both beginners and seasoned practitioners, setting the gold standard within the field of study of tarot.
For over 30 years Pollack partnered with Mary K. Greer to present at the Omega Institute’s weekend Wisdom of the Tarot symposium. Over her career, Pollack presented innumerable lectures, seminars, and workshops across the U.S. and beyond.
The tremendous amount of influence that Pollack has had extends well beyond her occult and esoteric works. She challenged the patriarchy at every turn bringing up important issues often ignored by others. She was the first person to address pivotal social issues like sexuality, and even menstruation in her works of fiction.
Pollack was a major voice for transgender rights. In her work at DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint of Doom Patrol issues 64–87 (1993–1995), she created the first transgender superhero, Kate Godwin, aka Coagula. One of Coagula’s buttons said, “Put a Transsexual Lesbian on the Supreme Court.”
Pollack’s stories in the genres of science fiction and fantasy have been critically acclaimed and won awards – the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1989 for Unquenchable Fire, and in 1997, Godmother Night won the World Fantasy Award for best novel. Her novel Temporary Agency was nominated for the Nebula Award, the James T. Tiptree Award, and the Mythopoeic Award in 1994.
Author Neil Gaiman, who frequently consulted Pollack for her knowledge and expertise, said “Rachel had one of the sharpest minds I’ve encountered, had a glorious sense of humor, and was kind to people. She was also an astonishingly good writer, and created her own genre, a sort of Upstate NY magic realism. You could call it the Poughkeepsie School, but Rachel was the only person there.”
Pollack made major contributions across numerous fields. In 2015, she penned an article for The Tarosophy Tarot Association, titled, Story, it’s all story. It is a fitting way to remember her in our community,
Recently I was thinking about what epitaph I might want if I had a tombstone (sounds morbid, but it’s actually a kind of fun exercise—trust me). At first I thought of a line from a Gabon Pygmy song celebrating life and consciousness—All lives, all dances, and all is loud. Then I recalled a line I love from the book Awakening Osiris, Normandi Ellis’s poetic translation of “The Egyptian Book of the Dead”—Give me not words of consolation. Give me magic.
Then finally I came to something more simple and more personal—Story. It’s all story. I am certainly not alone in this belief about the world, and people. And Tarot…
Sometimes the story the cards tell is meaningful but not precise to that person. At other times, however, the deck finds the one exact card to answer someone’s question. And to make the experience even stranger, it’s usually when that question has genuine importance, when the person seriously needs a precise answer in order to make a decision, or to unlock something in their lives. And this brings me to something else I’ve learned through the Tarot, and another line that might serve as an epitaph—The world is not what we think it is.
While the world is little less bright and shiny without Pollack physically being present now, her words, wisdom, and knowledge will continue to be a guiding light for those trying to find their way.
What is remembered, lives!
Announcements:
- The “Pagan and Heathen Political and Social Metrics survey” being conducted by Jonathan Leader of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology defines it as “a means of gathering information about beliefs, behaviors, and demographics from Heathens and Pagans in the United States and Canada. It will ask you questions about aspects of your religious and personal life, and your opinion on hot-button issues. Its results will tell us what Heathens and Pagans have in common across borders, and how different Pagans are within them.” The survey can be accessed online.
- Cherry Hill Seminary (CHS) announced it would be holding its Summer Intensive at Mystic South 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia on July 14-16. More details can be found on the CHS website.
- The Fredrick Pagan Pride Day announced that it is seeking applications for entertainers, event sponsors, local groups and charities, vendors, volunteers, and workshop and Ritual Leaders for their 7th annual Pagan Pride event, scheduled for September 9, 2023. Organizers request all inquiries be made via their website.
- The Grey School of Wizardry has launched a fundraising campaign to expand its physical campus in Whitehall, New York. This will enable the school to provide term-long, in-person enrollment. While the school officials say they still have a long way to go, they said things look quite promising.
- Voting for the 2023 Coalition of Visionary Resources Awards (COVR) opened on April 3 and runs through April 24. A complete guide of COVR of the nominees can be viewed online or downloaded as a PDF. A number of books on Witchcraft practice made the list again this year–like Mhara Starling’s Welsh Witchcraft, Flower Essences from a Witch’s Garden by Nicholas Pearson, Mastering Magick by Mat Auryn, and TWH’s own Storm Faerywolf for The Witch’s Name.
Upcoming Events:
- Blue Marble Podcast will feature EcoActivist, EcoChaplain, and Circle Sanctuary Minister Rev. Char Bear on Friday, April 21 at 7:00 pm (CDT) to discuss Earth Day, and the U.S. Climate Action Summit 2023. The U.S Climate Action Summit will be held on April 19 and virtual attendance is available for anyone to attend.
- Circle Sanctuary will hold its annual Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 22 at their Nature Preserve near Barneveld, Wisconsin. The celebration will include workshops, nature walks, and rituals. More information on the event, including registration, is available on Circle Sanctuary’s website.
- Cherry Hill Seminary’s lecture series, “Coming to the Center” will host Jo Carson on May 20, 2023 at 3:00 pm (EDT). Information on the lecture and how to register is available on the CHS website. CHS provided this background on Carson, “Pagan priestess Jo Carson seeks to create positive visions of the future through Feraferia, A Love Culture for Wilderness. She is Chair of the Board of Feraferia, which she joined in 1972. She also holds the rank of 7th Degree in the Order of the Temple of Astarte, having been initiated in 1970. She was active in a Reclaiming-inspired Wiccan circle called Eye of the Crescent for 17 years. Jo holds a master’s degree from UCLA in film production, and her professional life has included camera work on many feature films. She directed and produced the documentary feature Dancing With Gaia: Earth Energy, Sacred Sexuality and the Return of the Goddess, plus documentary shorts A Dance for the Goddess about Feraferian rites, and Himalayan Pilgrimage: A Visionary Journey. She authored Celebrate Wildness: Magic, Mirth and Love on the Feraferian Path, an introduction to Feraferia through art. She is currently working on a Feraferia Tarot deck and book.”
- Circle Sanctuary announced last week that registration for Pagan Spirit Gathering is now open. The annual event includes a variety of vendors, workshops, music, and rituals.
- The Scottish Goddess Conference 2023 will be held online from September 13 – 17 as well as in person in Paisley, Scotland on September 16, 2023. This theme for 2023 is “Oracles of the Divine, and will be dedicated to all things related to communicating with the other realms and spirits. From oracle work to séance, spiritism, necromancy, omens, trance work, psychedelic plants, medium, divination methods, ancient oracles, and much more!” Speakers include Professor Daniel Ogden, Dr. Jeffrey S. Kupperman, Kristoffer Hughes, Caitlin Matthews, Ivo Dominguez, Jeff Cullen, Chris Allaun, Lucya Starza, Starr Ravenhawk, Susana Aguilar, Michael Mayo, and Cara Hamilton. Super Early Bird Tickets are currently available on the Scottish Goddess Conference Website. The Conference will also hold a Virtual Goddess Market till September and a live Goddess Market at the event venue at the Wynd Centre in Paisley, Scotland, to support the Goddess Temple Alba.
- The Goddess Temple Alba, with its aim to open a Community Space for Pagans in Scotland, will be hosting several Charitable Goddess Markets this year. The first one was held on February 4, and the next is scheduled for April 29 and will celebrate Beltane, and the third market will be held during the Scottish Goddess Conference on September 16. According to the organizers, “All donations towards spaces for traders will go directly to the Goddess Temple Alba Fund towards a space. Ness Bosch, the Head of the Goddess Temple Alba, and some of the members of the Temple are working very hard to open this Temple space! Go and support the Goddess Community in Scotland by paying a visit to the forthcoming Goddess Markets!” Those interested can now also join the Goddess Community In Scotland Facebook Group to keep up with goddess happenings in Scotland. Anyone interested in securing a space as a trader/vendor with the Goddess Markets can email the organizers. All markets will take place at the Wynd Centre in Paisley, Scotland.
In other news:
- Two mosaics featuring Medusa of Greek mythology that date to the 2nd century have been uncovered in the Villa of the Antonines in Italy. The mosaics were discovered in floor of what were two recessed areas, one in the northwest, and one in the southeast sections of a circular room that measures 69 feet in diameter. The room contained two other similar recessed areas but neither of them had mosaics or the remains of any mosaics. Researchers are uncertain as to what the room’s purpose or use might have been or why it contained mosaics depicting Medusa. There is speculation that the round room may have been a reception area. While many of the villa’s decorative features have been removed, the mosaics of Medusa remained and would have made an impression on anyone entering the room. The villa while massive, likely covered many acres of land, though only about 30 acres show visible remains of the structures it once held. The site has seen severe damage and deterioration over the years that span its long history dating all the way back to the Roman era and through to WWII. The excavations at the site are being directed by Professor Timothy Renner, and Associate Professor Deborah Chatr Aryamontri with Montclair State University in New Jersey.
- A 3-D recording of the Temple of Isis in Philae, Egypt created by researchers with Simon Fraser University (SFU) reveals similarities between modern and ancient graffiti. According to SFU geography professor Nick Hedley, “The iconic architecture of ancient Egypt was built by those in positions of power and wealth, but the graffiti records the voices and activities of everybody else. The building acts like a giant sponge or notepad for generations of people from different cultures for over 2,000 years.” Hedley, who leads the team using advanced methods like laser scanning, photogrammetry, and raking light, is documenting the graffiti and their architectural context, and the spaces where they are found. Hedley explained, “I’m recording reality in three-dimensions — the dimensionality in which it exists.” Rather than using two-dimensional photographs, the 3-D imaging “will allow the interior and exterior of the temple, and the graffiti, to be viewed and studied at otherwise impossible viewpoints, from virtually anywhere— without compromising detail.”
Positively Noteworthy
California has seen an unprecedented amount of precipitation in the past few months. Many of the results of drought-stricken areas receiving large amounts of rain- or snowfall have been devastating. Widespread flooding and huge snow accumulations trapped people in their homes and caused buildings to collapse.
However, the precipitation amounts have refilled reservoirs and offset some of the impacts that severe drought has inflicted over the past decades.
One of the more pleasant side effects of all that precipitation is a poppy super bloom that has not been seen in a number of years. The poppy seeds can lie dormant in desert areas for years, only erupting in blooms when the right conditions occur.
One of the most popular places to view the annual bloom of poppies is the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, located in the western Mojave Desert with an elevation that ranges from 2600–3000 feet. The park has a posted list of rules for visitors that prohibits leaving the designated trails to prevent damage to poppies and their environment, and prohibits dogs, and drone use within the park. The Poppy Reserve also has a live webcam of the park.
Some parks have restricted visitors, and even closed access in order to preserve and protect the super bloom, like in Walker Canyon and Lake Elsinore. Anyone planning to visit any of the areas where poppies and other wildflowers are blooming, checking state and local advisories and guidelines is strongly encouraged.
Tarot of the Week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: The Sacred Rose Tarot, by Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Card: Major arcana – XX (20) – Judgment
The week ahead may offer opportunities for a fresh start or a new approach. The importance of balancing opposites and recognizing the benefits of blending the spiritual with the physical may figure prominently.
Conversely, energy that is not focused is liable to end up scattered and likely to result in delays and postponement.
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