Culture

Column: Of Stryper and Viking Fidget Spinners

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Back in high school in the late 1980s, my friend Dan really liked the band Stryper. He cut the sleeves off his jean jacket, drew the band’s logo in Elmer’s glue on the back, then threw gold and black glitter at it to make the only Stryper vest any of us had ever seen. We teased him mercilessly. Why? Because Stryper was a totally cheesy Christian glam metal band from Orange County that sang about Jesus while wearing mascara and yellow spandex, and that seemed the most un-metal thing possible to a bunch of teenage hippies and metal-heads in 1986.

David Lynch

The esoteric journey of Twin Peaks with ZB

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TWH – Twin Peaks was originally a surreal crime drama airing for two seasons in the early 1990s. Created by Mark Frost and David Lynch, the show first received rave reviews for its unique blend of storytelling and visuals. In 1991, New York Times reviewer William Grimes wrote, “For an intoxicating few months, ‘Twin Peaks’ seemed to be crackling away on every synapse in the collective American brain. The massively promoted two-hour pilot that kicked off the series just over a year ago lured nearly 35 million viewers, a third of the nation’s television audience.” Those numbers fell sharply over the season and into the second season, forcing the seemingly cultural tour de force to close up shop in June 1991 after only 30 episodes.

Culture

Column: Pagans Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Harry Potter

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On June 26, the wildly popular Harry Potter book series celebrated its 20th anniversary. Written by J.K. Rowling, who was a struggling single mother prior to skyrocketing to fame and fortune, the children’s fantasy series gained plenty of adult fans and has spawned a media empire. Eventually, Rowling published seven books, which led to eight high-grossing feature films with A-list actors in many of the roles. Even after the films ended, the series maintained a strong internet presence and has been given new life with the opening of two interactive Harry Potter themed “lands” at Universal Studios theme parks in Florida and California. Pagans, especially those who identify as Witches, are often drawn to any work of fiction that includes witches or pagans as characters.

Culture

Summer music tour roundup

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TWH – Summer means many things, solstice, Midsummer, Litha and Lammas observances for some, but it also means festivals for the larger Pagan community and touring for some of our favorite bands. One of the hottest summers on record in the United States and around the world is making for some wilting weather. “If I were to be honest, this has been a pretty rough year,” Sharon Knight said. She and Winter have been having a more challenging time than in previous years, feeling the pinch at home in Oakland where they’re getting priced out of the rental market. They’ve unofficially dubbed this the “fly by the seat of our pants tour” because of the difficulty they’ve had, among other things, filling all their tour dates.

Culture

Column: Spirit is Free, but Community Priceless

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DARLINGTON, Md. –Free Spirit Gathering is one of a growing number of festivals which has been held for more than 30 years, making it a touchstone for Pagans and polytheists seeking to connect with like-minded people. That kind of longevity also means that loss is part and parcel of the community. After several beloved members left this life behind in a short period of time, this year’s coordinators sought a ritual team specifically to aid in the grieving and honoring of those blessed dead. I always go to festivals with my reporter’s pad at the ready, but I attended this one of several priests from the Hellenic Temple of Apollon, Zeus and Pan who were tasked with providing an opportunity to venerate community ancestors, including those freshly minted.