Around the World: South African Pagan groups celebrate spring

[While most of TWH readers are celebrating the beginning of fall, those in the Southern Hemisphere are welcoming spring. Guest writer and blogger Damon Leff provides a brief look into the Pagan groups and their practice in South Africa]

SOUTH AFRICA — South African Pagans, who represent a tiny and largely insular religious minority, celebrated the vernal equinox Sept. 22

While a large percentage of this ‘identity community’ are solitary practitioners, there are a few notable covens who host public seasonal events. These groups are well supported by their own members and by newcomers eager to explore Pagan ritual for the first time. The Grove, arguably the oldest and largest teaching coven in South Africa, was founded in 1996 in Johannesburg.

Column: South African Pagans remember Donna Darkwolf

[Today The Wild Hunt welcomes guest contributor Damon Leff, a human rights activist, Witch, and editor-in-chief of Penton Independent Alternative Media. Leff is also the director of the South African Pagan Rights Alliance, and owns his own pottery studio called Mnrva Pottery. He is currently studying Law at the University of South Africa, and lives in the Wilderness, Western Cape, South Africa.]

“No living thing can seek the light for ever. Not find it. And not be changed.

Pagan Community Notes: Donna Darkwolf Vos, Detroit Conjure, Aeclectic Tarot Forum and more

SOUTH AFRICA — It was announced that priestess and Witch Donna Darkwolf Vos has died. Vos was active member of the growing Pagan community in South Africa, a teacher, mentor, and author. In 1996, Vos helped found the Pagan Federation of South Africa and acted as its president through 2002. She founded the Circle of the African Moon and was its high priestess. In 2003, she published the book Dancing Under an African Moon, in which she “explains Pagan practice in the context of southern Africa and the Southern Hemisphere.”

Pagan Community Notes: Scott Holbrook, Florida Pagans, Robin Fletcher, South Africa march and more!

GASTON, N.C. – Druid Daniel Scott Holbrook, also known as Cú Meala, pleaded no contest last week to the charge of the “dissemination of obscenities.” Holbrook was arrested last fall after police allegedly found “nude photos of children” on his computer. After several dates were postponed due to schedule conflicts, Holbrook saw his day in court Apr. 4. Since the arrest, Holbrook has always maintained his innocence publicly, saying that the photos were placed there by a downloaded BitTorrent. As he explains, he and his family were attempting to download a movie and the photos were hidden in that file.

South African Witches face obstacles in the public practice of magic

[The following article is a joint project between The Wild Hunt and Damon Leff, a human rights activist, Witch, and editor-in-chief of Penton Independent Alternative Media. Leff is also the director of the South African Pagan Rights Alliance, and owns his own pottery studio called Mnrva Pottery. He is currently studying Law at the University of South Africa, and lives in the Wilderness, Western Cape, South Africa.]

SOUTH AFRICA — Michael Hughes, the unofficial face of the recent February 24 mass binding ritual against the 45th President of the U.S. Donald Trump, described it as a tool for political resistance against “the Devil.” In the wake of the numerous international headlines around the world, South African Witches were left wondering whether such public magical resistance against a sitting head of state will in any way influence, or reinforce their own government’s existing negative perception of Witches. South African Witches live in a country that is still hostile to any notion of “witchcraft” as a valid spiritual pursuit. For most South Africans, including influential Traditional Healers and Traditional Leaders, Witchcraft is viewed as a wholly negative practice.