Column: You Better Watch Out

Pagan Perspectives

Today’s column comes to us from The Wild Hunt’s Editor-in-Chief, Manny Tejeda-Moreno. The Wild Hunt’s weekend section is always open for submissions. Please send queries to eric@wildhunt.org. We’ve all likely heard the classic poem The Twelve Days of Christmas, which probably began as a children’s forfeit game played a couple of centuries ago near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The song commemorates the days that begin with the Feast of Stephen Protomartyr and end with the Feast of Epiphany, or Twelfth Night.

Unleash the Hounds! (link roundup)

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. 

We start today’s roundup with religious freedom stories:

The Florida Senate approved SB 436 “Religious Expression in Public Schools.” As with many religious freedom bills, SB 436 seeks to protect people from discrimination related to their practice of religion. However, according to Americans United, this senate bill and the corresponding Florida House Bill 303 “would erode the separation of church and state in Florida’s schools in violation of the First Amendment.” Americans United goes on to say that, “both versions of the bill would put Florida’s public schools in a bind, as they would be forced to choose between violating the new state law and violating the U.S. Constitution.”

Column: When the Words Get in the Way

Attacks on identity are not just hate crimes, they are war crimes. They are assaults on the most basic sense of self whether the target is a person, culture or religion. These types of attacks are designed to undermine legitimacy with objectives that range from oppression to obliteration. They are among the most heinous of attacks. But sometimes these wars storm quietly.

La Befana turns winter into a season for the Witch

ITALY – There are many popular mythological figures associated with the winter holiday season. We’ve all heard of Santa Claus, Rudolf, Father Christmas and Jack Frost. This past December Krampus, a figure in Germanic folklore, became a household name through the release of a new horror movie. But there is another figure, who stands out within the canon of European winter holiday lore, and is beloved by those who honor her. She is called La Befana.

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

[Unleash the Hounds is a monthly feature that highlights media stories of interest originating predominantly outside of our collective communities. If you like seeing this roundup every month, consider donating to our Wild Hunt Fall Fund Drive today. Only a few hours left in the 2015 campaign! Join the team of supporters. Donate today and help keep The Wild Hunt on track for another year. Thank You.]

According to a number of news sites, Facebook announced Friday that it is making changes to its infamous “real name policy.”