Culture

Column: 11 Influential Pagans of Color – a Discussion

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 Pagan Perspectives

There is something about a list in this culture: lists for best movies, most popular songs, best quotes of the year, best places to visit, most memorable books of the year. These are just a few of the many lists that are created in today’s culture every year. It is no wonder that the creation of lists are something that has also become a “thing” within the over-culture of Paganism as well. While we normally see the publication of these lists at the end of the calendar year, 2018 brought us a list early, starting conversations before the shifting of seasons begins. Everyone has been talking about the most recent list published on the Patheos Pagan blog Raise the Horns.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: BBC petition, Cherry Hill Seminary, Arnold Crowther, and more

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As we reported in the past, a U.K.-based petition has been making its way around the internet. Its mission is to urge the BBC to be more considerate of Pagan religious views. Created in January 2018 by Druid Stuart Jeffrey, the petition, which is titled BBC should make Pagan voices heard, has garnered closed to 2,000 signatures. Jeffrey believes that the station should contain occasional programming that explores Paganism and that “they should feature a Pagan voice on Thought for the Day at least once a year.” He writes, “The BBC recently published a review of its religious programming however despite getting the views from a range of religious leaders, no Pagans were consulted. Thought for the Day (T4tD) goes out on Radio 4 and despite it being multi-faith it has no Pagan voices on it.”

In a press release, Jeffrey announced that the petition will be delivered to the BBC Tuesday, July 17 at 11am. He said, “Almost 2,000 people have call [sic] on the BBC to make Pagan voices heard.

Paganism

Facebook promotion of WitchsFest USA blocked

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NEW YORK –WitchsFest USA has been held each summer for the better part of a decade on Astor Place, but this is the first time the event has been deemed “spam” on Facebook, or at least the first time that a flag has impacted promotional efforts for the day-long street fair. According to co-founder Starr RavenHawk, posts touting the event have been widely removed as spam, and she herself has been subject to filtering that prevents her from even using the word “witch” on the social media site. All seemed well the morning of June 18, RavenHawk recalled, but when she got home at the end of the day she discovered a number of automated messages in her Facebook account. “All the posts, videos, and event pages had been removed as spam,” she said. Moreover, the same thing happened when those posts were shared by presenters, vendors, and others seeking to encourage attendance.

News

Pagan Community Notes: EarthSpirit Community, Florida senate race, solar eclipse and more

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BOSTON — The weekend’s scheduled “Free Speech Rally” was overshadowed by thousands of counter-protesters. According to reports, there were only a “few dozen” rally attendees, who were eventually escorted out of the area to the sound of the crowd cheering. The event’s organizers have claimed that the rally was not related to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, but protesters were unconvinced and showed up in force. Among the crowds were a number of people from the Pagan community. Specifically, members of the EarthSpirit Community, which is based in Massachusetts, were on hand with their own signs.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Astra Star Goddess, Four Quarters, Bayview Cross and more!

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SANTA CRUZ, Calif — In a recent announcement, Oberon Zell has made the claim that the producers of the Hulu show Handmaid’s Tale (2017- ) stole his Star Goddess design to be used as “the symbol of the oppressive patriarchal theocracy.” In a recent Facebook post, Zell said:

“You can imagine my shock and outrage when I discovered that my iconic design of ‘Astra, the Star Goddess,’ which I created in 1987 as a quintessential symbol of women’s divinity and empowerment […] appears prominently and ubiquitously throughout the series as the symbol of the brutal oppression and subjugation of women in a totalitarian patriarchal theocratic regime.” Zell has since said that he is building his case and has engaged a copyright attorney. He invites anyone who has been using his image to share their story with him. TWH reached out to the producers of the show but have received no response date. We will update this story as it develops.