Pagan Soup: Gay Founding Fathers, Ivo Dominguez Jr. and Paganish Movies

The Founder of the US Army was Gay?

Cara Schulz brought this fantastic bit of trivia to my attention:

Von Steuben was an able field commander and was Chief of Staff to Washington. His efforts during, and after the war, were of such value that Congress gave him a yearly pension of $2500 a year, which was a large sum of money in those days. When he died, he left everything to General Benjamin Walker and Captain William North, who had served as his aides-de-camp during the war, both of whom it was said were romantically involved with von Steuben. None of the three men ever married and Walker and North ended up serving in the US Congress.

Without Von Steuben it is arguable that we would not have won the Revolutionary War. What is known to military historians is that von Steuben, more than any other man, is the father of the US Army. What is in greater dispute is if he was a homosexual or not. Although all evidence points that he was, we don’t have proof such as a letter in his own hand stating he was gay.

Casting Sacred Space

I wait until I’ve finished a book before I give it a review or recommend it to someone. In the case of Ivo Dominguez Jr’s new book, I make an exception. I’m only a few chapters in and I am already entranced.

It’s a simple concept, creating a sacred energetic temple, and it’s been covered in books before, including books devoted to the subject, such as MacMorgan-Douglas’ The Circle, Cubed. What sets this book apart is the incredible insight, detail and holistic approach Dominguez takes. In a world of carbon-copy, boring Wicca 101 books, I take great delight in being surprised by something new and meaningful. I’d wager I’ve been surprised by something new and meaningful on almost every page so far, and even concepts I am well familiar with have been phrased in a way to give me pause to reflect on them as if they were new.

You know how to cast a circle. You may have a way of casting the circle handed down by your lineage and you have no reason to want to experiment. You will still find this book useful. If you’re an advanced book, this is one. If you’re looking for a book to teach ritual to beginners, this is one.

I’ll do a full review once I’ve finished, but I’m pretty damn impressed by this book already.

Marvel is Obsessed with Gods

I rented Captain America and Thor the other day. It’s been months since I saw either of them in the theater.  While Thor is a mythology no-brainer, I was surprised at how much Norse mythos was present in Captain America. Both films are obsessed with the Gods. The lack of American mythos was almost disturbing. I wonder what The Avengers will be like?

Oh! And did you catch the modern Pagan artwork? In one of the clips with the Red Skull, describing his fascination with Norse myth, there was a Paul Borda (aka Dryad Designs) carving featured. I’ve seen the carving before, but I can’t find an image of it today. Am I the only one who saw this?