Paganism

Column: Pagans Prepare for a New Women’s March

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As a minority community, many American Pagans met the beginning of 2017 with trepidation, with the inauguration of a new president who seemed hostile to values that many Pagans hold dear. Between the new president’s recorded admissions of sexual assault and misogyny, and the evangelical Christian movement had propelled him to power, there was fear that the new administration would roll back gains made in social issues such as women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, and freedom from religious persecution. In this environment, one day after the inauguration of President Trump, the Women’s March on Washington burst onto the international scene. In a well-coordinated protest effort, millions of women and men in iconic pink “pussy” hats flooded cities all over the world to stand up for what they saw is inalienable human rights that were under threat. The Washington, D.C. march famously attracted more attendees than the inauguration itself, and that pattern repeated itself in cities across the U.S. and, indeed, all over the world.

News

Trump tells values voters, “We worship God”

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WASHINGTON DC — President Donald Trump addressed attendees of the Values Voter Summit Friday, saying: “In America, we don’t worship government — we worship God.” Since he began his run for the presidency and after the election, Trump has repeatedly pushed religious-freedom rhetoric, promising that the government would not discriminate against “people of faith.” As we reported last week, the Justice Department released a new set of guidelines to assist federal departments in wading through such issues. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, “Every American has a right to believe, worship, and exercise their faith. The protections for this right, enshrined in our Constitution and laws, serve to declare and protect this important part of our heritage.”

Hounds

Unleash the Hounds (link roundup)

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

A “seismic political week”

As has adequately been reported throughout mainstream media, the Trump administration generated a number of executive orders and memoranda that are now creating significant backlash and raising concerns in many communities. These orders include, but are not limited to, the revival of the North Dakota Keystone pipeline project, immigration restrictions, and actions to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. To see read more about what the administration has done in what some are calling a seismic week of executive action, read the White House website’s weekly report. While Trump’s first week as president has been punctuated by seemingly non-stop protest and rallies of one kind or another, the pipeline memorandum and immigration orders have generated the most immediate public reaction.

Paganism

Column: Resiliency and the Spirit War

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“6-3-6: The concept of politics has then become completely absorbed into a war of spirits.” —Nietzschemanteion

Or as Diane di Prima wrote, “the war that matters is the war against the imagination/all other wars are subsumed in it.” The enemy is despair, but secular ideologies of progress will never be enough to keep the enemy at bay. It takes a certain kind of sympathetic magic to counter despair. The seeds of what one is fighting for must be contained in one’s actions. If you want to live in a world where the relationships between the gods, the ancestors, the land and human beings are in harmony, then you have to put effort into strengthening and balancing those relationships right now.

News

“Whiting 41” use hearing to protest Trump picks

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HAMMOND, Ind. –Eight months after 41 protestors were arrested for trespassing at a BP Oil facility in Whiting, Indiana, the so-called “Whiting 41” had to appear in court Jan. 13 to accept their plea bargains. Pagan blogger John Halstead took part in that 2016 demonstration, as we previously reported, and was eager to assist fellow activists turn this 2017 moment into a larger action. The video included below is one of several taken during the Jan.