Today the United States is celebrating Labor Day. In honor of that holiday, The Wild Hunt will be taking a day off – in a minute, anyway.
We would like to acknowledge the hard work and labor of all those, past and present, who have dedicated their energy, time, talents, and passion to keeping our news service publishing nearly every day since 1994. Thank you to our news reporters, columnists, guest authors, editors, and administrative team.
Vintage Labor Day three-cent stamp [public domain]
We would also like to take a moment to thank all of our readers for the work they do out in the world. While the nature of our coverage often leads to a focus on Pagans whose livelihood is somehow connected to their religion, it’s worth recognizing that, then and now, the vast majority of Pagans are at work in so-called “normal jobs.” As I sat down to prepare today’s post, I thought of a Pagan machinist that Margot Adler interviewed for her book Drawing Down the Moon:
I was originally trained in the biological sciences and worked in the field for a few years, but couldn’t take the frustration of being forced into being an active participant in the “Rape of Nature,” knowing the whole time that improvements, when they came, wouldn’t come from within the field but would be entirely political. (Also, that no significant improvements will come until ecological and economic necessity forces them, probably not in my lifetime.)
So I work at reasonably well-paid working-class jobs, the sort of thing where no one questions my background much when I apply for work…
Sure, I could make my living through “the magic racket” if I wanted to, but I saw what that did to my aunt and uncle, and I don’t think it’s a good idea. […] Yes, there are obvious complications and contradictions involved for any Aquarian when it comes to “making a living” in this society, and I know of no easy solutions. Whatever approach you use, it takes a lot of work and lot of self-discipline to survive both physically and develop an Aquarian personality. There don’t seem to be any short-cuts: most of the obvious “solutions” are illusions.”
I think of who my parents were when I was born, my father the handyman and my mother the bank teller, who unbeknownst to anyone were also the heads of a Witches’ coven with a library of occult books that would be the envy of any private collector. Working people have always made up the majority of Pagans, and here at The Wild Hunt, we celebrate your labors as well.
We will return tomorrow with Pagan Community Notes. In the meantime, catch up on some of the recent Wild Hunt articles that you may have missed.
- Traditions: an interview with the ADF Archdruid
- Editorial: That bolted-down Bible should go
- Trump administration affirms religious symbols at VA centers
- Update on Boleskine House arson
- The complexity of the Amazon fires
- Fire near Rome threatened Tusculum
Until tomorrow, Happy Labor Day!
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