Where does “free speech” end? Does free speech mean the freedom for a group of Christians to come bearing placards and a soapbox and engage in long harangues towards Pagans engaging in a legally permitted assembly? That will be the question as a group of Christian evangelists have filed suit against the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan after being told to disperse from the public park where the annual Grand Rapids Pagan Pride Day was being held.

“On Sept. 23, Ickes and others attempted to address attendees of the Pagan Pride Festival at Richmond Hills Park. The group spoke using a small wooden platform but did not use amplification equipment. A Grand Rapids Police sergeant informed Ickes that a permit was required for their activities and claimed they were disturbing the peace. One group member was forcefully pulled from the platform by a second sergeant, handcuffed, and detained in the back of a police vehicle. One of the officers acknowledged to Ickes that an attempt to obtain a permit likely would have been denied by city officials to avoid “problems” caused by differing viewpoints between the group and festival attendees. Further, the officer admitted the festival did not have exclusive use of the park. Under continued threat of arrest, the group decided to leave the area.”

The complaint is an interesting read. In it, Ickes and his fellow preachers paint themselves as polite, orderly Christians hoping to share the good news.

“On Saturday, September 23, 2006, Ickes, along with a group of 7 others, went to Richmond Hills Park in Grand Rapids to speak with and preach to the crowd gathered for the Pagan Pride Festival at approximately 11:15 a.m. Mr. Ickes and others in his group also held Bibles and signs with messages of sin and God’s forgiveness. After dialogging with individual attendees at the festival, some SPF members began taking turns preaching to the crowd while standing atop a small wooden platform.”

Sounds so peaceful and innocent! How could anyone have complained! But if you read their web site, it becomes clear that these aren’t peaceful messengers for the brotherhood in Christ.

“The Street Preachers’ Fellowship traveled again to the Nation’s capital to preach to the NOW Parade of rebellious women, made up of 250,000 witches, whores, wackos and weight lifters who failed at being women. No commentary is needed to describe the ridiculous onslaught of failed feminism that marched through the streets of Washington, D.C. trying to be anything but a “Lady”… And while 99% of all the pastors in and around the nation’s capital did nothing, 250,000 of the liberal swine of female rebellion paraded down the middle of the streets of D.C., cursing, swearing, taking God’s name in vain, stripping their clothes off, and routinely smelling up the nation’s capital with their filthiness, whoredom and rebellion. With riot police in full body armor standing between, the SPF preachers confronted the mass of rebellious, loud mouthed riff raff that has produced the largest nation of sodomites the world has ever known.”

With a message like that I can’t imagine why the Pagan Pride organizers called the cops. While the Alliance Defense Fund tries to paint these men as free speech casualties, the actual law of Grand Rapids Michigan was against them.

“No person shall conduct or participate in any business activity, bazaar, sale, swap meet, barter activity or other activity of a commercial nature except pursuant to a permit issued by the Director of Parks and Recreation. No group political meetings or functions, religious meetings, public speeches, concerts, or other similar activities shall be held within a public park except pursuant to a permit issued by the Director of Parks and Recreation. A permit for such activities shall be issued by the Director of Parks and Recreation or his/her designee with reasonable restrictions only with regard to the time, place and manner of activity to be conducted.”

In other words, an organized Christian “religious meeting” can’t intrude on an already permitted and scheduled Pagan “religious meeting” on city property without a permit. If Ickes, the Street Preachers Fellowship, and the Alliance Defense Fund were to win this case, Christian groups in Grand Rapids would be allowed to set up next to Pagan events with no prior warning and “evangelize” (ie harass and intimidate) as much as they wanted. Of course it would also allow for any group to set up next to another in a public park so long as they didn’t physically attack them. So the Klan would be able to “peacefully” set up next to a Martin Luther King day celebration, and neo-Nazis could send their “message” to a Jewish festival so long as they don’t use electronic amplification.

While some free speech absolutists would agree to such a proposition, such a reality would create a larger “chilling effect” than preventing opposing groups to pounce on an already permitted public event. It would mean that no group could use a public space without fear of that event being disrupted by the “free speech” of their idealogical opponents. If free speech doesn’t allow someone to yell “fire” in a crowded theater, should it allow Christians to yell “hellfire” at a peaceful Pagan gathering?

ADDENDUM: Jerry Zarley at the Z’s Consciousness blog has found a court case that has several elements pertaining to this one.

“issued permits can be enforced to protect the permitted message even if this excludes other messages. This enforces the very purpose behind permitting schemes – to enable the expression of a particular message. In other words, an administrative permit scheme must be capable of enforcement.”

You can read the full opinion of the court, here.

You would think that with all the Wiccans on reality programs nowadays that it would be passe’ for a morning talk-show host to feature them (as was somewhat common in the eighties). But yesterday Tyra Banks, apparently low on women who can’t choose which guy to marry and frumpy housewives who need a fashion makeover, decided to trot out some Pagans for the studio audience.

“Tyra’s role as talk show host is to educate and enlighten people about topics that are either relevant to our lives, or just too noteworthy to ignore. But at the beginning of this episode, Tyra admitted she had some reluctance about covering this particular subject. The topic was witchcraft, and the occult, controversial practices are more common than you might think. Tyra revealed more than 400,000 people in the U.S. claimed to practice witchcraft, and she introduced us to proponents of various intriguing, yet forbidden, traditions who wanted to shatter misconceptions about their craft.”

Phew! Thats a relief. She is here to shatter misconceptions! To educate and enlighten us on these misunderstood faiths. Maybe she got Margot Adler to come on the show? Perhaps some elders in the Pagan community like Ray Buckland, Starhawk, or Isaac Bonewits?

“She welcomed Fiona Horne, an Australian singer/songwriter who practiced Wicca. Fiona had written eight books about the subject and was a star both inside and outside of the pagan world…”

Fionna “Mad Mad House” Horne? That was the expert? Ok, calm down, it can’t be that bad. Joining Fiona on stage was model Wrenna Monet, and “Brandy” (if that is her real name) an African-American Witch who has faced suspension at her job for bringing tarot cards to work.

Brandy, Wrenna Monet, and Fiona Horne

So maybe the show will be a little fluffy, but it can be too bad. Wait, she is introducing a feature on another aspect of modern Witchcraft. Maybe now we’ll get some good educational content.

“But on the opposing side were “dark witches.” Jymie and Vicky were dark witches that owned America’s oldest occult shop. Jymie described dark witches as neutral, neither good nor bad. They had their own faith system and moral compass, but she warned that you should not cross them. Jymie explained that the main difference between dark witches and white witches was that white witches did not acknowledge the dark side and tended to live in a fantasy world.”

Oh no. Please tell me they aren’t going to do or say anything embarrassing.

“While Tyra’s cameras filmed one of their ceremonies, Richard described their ritual of blood letting as a way to cleanse oneself of fear and hatred. Jymie talked about some items from her curious collection of relics, such as the last breath from a murderer and the burnt remains of a rapist. She said owning them helped cleanse the world of their negative energy.”

Last. Breath. Of. A. Murderer. Why? Have I offended the gods that such torment is visited upon me? At least Tyra isn’t confusing Satanists with Wiccans and Witches.

“This brought us to Tyra’s next guests, Stanton and Szandora, two members of the Church of Satan. Stanton was literally born into Satanism, as the first child born in the church founded by his grandfather. Stanton revealed that Satanism was half anti-religion and half underground art, comprised of creative people such as musicians and artists. According to him, Satanists were not devil worshipers. Instead, they are people who embraced self-expression, individuality and indulgence. He noted that the best spokesperson for the practice was shock rocker Marilyn Manson.”

Keep in mind that the title for this program is “Mysterious Lives of Witches”, not “Mysterious Lives of Witches and Two Satanists”. Man, this is like a bad flashback to the eighties. All we need now is a born-again saved from the terrors of Paganism.

“We learned how some individuals turn to witchcraft, but has anyone switched back to Christianity? This was a path Sarah took when she realized that white witchcraft was not what it appeared to be…She became a solitary practitioner and felt she had more control over her life as a witch. She explained how she lost control when she believed her spirit guide started leading her to ruin. She talked about the day she attempted suicide and how she found Christianity at college. Through her religious roommates, Sarah got in touch with God. She ended up burning all of her Wicca paraphernalia and never looked back. Sarah now believes that all witchcraft leads to was a dangerous place.”

I believe that Tyra has achieved the hat-trick of bad talk shows about “the occult”. Witch, Satanist, Born-Again Christian! Please my brothers and sisters in modern Paganism. Unless its Oprah, do NOT go on a morning talk-show. Don’t! I know you’ll try to rationalize it by thinking that the show producers will get someone worse if you don’t go, but you are NO MATCH for them. You will only look stupid, and the show ALWAYS has the last word.

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

For those of you who have been missing pioneering acid-house band The KLF since their retirement, it seems that “New Rave” act The Klaxons are here to pick up the slack.

“Pogoing behind the banks of synthesisers is, instead, a band steeped in art rock, soft pop and science fiction…That old rascal Aleister Crowley gets exhumed once again. ‘Do what you will,’ urges ‘Magick’, abetted by an irresistible on-beat.”

You can find the lyrics to their Thelemic ode, here. For some samples of their musical wares, try The Hype Machine.

Cambridge Classics scholar Mary Beard criticizes the Greek Pagans who made the news recently for their lack of blood sacrifice.

“True, the worshipers last week poured a libation of wine and incense over a copper tripod. But where was the animal sacrifice? As almost everyone who studies ancient Greek religion insists, the key centre of the whole religious system was sacrifice: it was the ritual of killing and sharing the animal that was, if anything, the “article of faith” that defined the ancient community of worshipers. And it was through sacrifice (rather than ecology) that ancient Greeks conceptualized their own place in the world – distinct from animals on the one hand and the superhuman gods on the other. Until these eager neo-pagans get real and slaughter a bull or two in central Athens, I shan’t worry that they have much to do with ancient religion at all. At the moment, this is paganism lite.”

Pagan scholar Chas Clifton fires back with a resounding “so what”?

“Her slightly patronizing tone aside, so what? Religions do change–even while their adherents insist on continuity with the past. I have great respect for Beard as a Classics scholar–I own one or two of her books–but I suspect that she has not given much thought before to new religious movements until she decided to give her opinion on this new development in her blog.”

This caused Mary to get a tad defensive in the comments…

“I think I was really responding to the claims made by this group that they WERE reviving ancient paganism. I am absolutely OK with the idea that religions change. I was reacting to their claims to be a modern version of ANCIENT ‘paganism’.”

For quite a bit more debate on if blood sacrifice is a necessary component of a revived Greco-Roman paganism, check out the comments on Beard’s blog.

In case you were wondering, supermodel Naomi Campbell is not a witch.

“Naomi Campbell called the other day — no jokes about flying cell phones, please. The supermodel was a perfect lady, even as she made her complaints about newspaper stories in Brazil, England and here that she is interested in Brazil’s African-based Candomble religion, which has rituals some have likened to witchcraft.”

I was going to bring forward a witness who said she turned him into a newt, but sadly he “got better” before I could alert the tabloids. No word on if she weighs as much as a duck.

If you can make it to Santa Cruz, I couldn’t think of a better activity than attending Robert Anton Wilson’s Cosmic Meme-Orial & Lasagna Levitation Celebration on February 18th.

“Celebrate the life, work and continued multi-dimensionality of Robert Anton Wilson by joining us in a giant, jammin’ Translation Celebration and 8th Circuit Soiree! Be a part of Bob’s Raucous Processionary Send-Off as his ashes sail out of the cove and rejoin his beloved’s in the Pacific!”

Organizers are still accepting contributions for their media presentation. Send your photos of Wilson or creative graphical tributes as 300 x 600 jpegs to the e-mail address listed here.

Finally, the newspaper of my old hometown in Champaign-Urbana Illinois covers the possible Witch School reality program in Hoopeston.

“The witch school that moved into Hoopeston’s elephant building three years ago may soon be the site of a reality TV show on the Sci-Fi channel. “We’re pretty excited even though we don’t know that much about it yet,” said Don Lewis, who is the Witch School’s chancellor…A spokeswoman for the network confirmed that a reality series to be filmed in Hoopeston is in development. “We don’t have a production timetable as of yet, nor do we have additional information on the details of the production,” Adrienne D’Amato wrote in an e-mail.”

Doesn’t sound like anything is in stone at this point. You wonder if they’ll insist on a photogenic cast of teachers and students?

That is all I have for now, have a good day!

When a film gains as much critical acclaim as Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth has you go in with high hopes. Was the film worth the hype, or will I leave disappointed? I felt a little nervous, since I have been such a strong supporter of the film on my blog, what if I convinced people to go to a film that was flat and lacking in the magic promised? It turns out I shouldn’t have worried. Pan’s Labyrinth is a masterful film, filled with magic, wonder, and quite a bit of darkness and horror as well.

Ivana Baquero as Ofelia in Pan’s Labyrinth

This film is a fairytale for grown-ups, a phrase that gets thrown around quite a bit whenever a film incorporates elements of magical realism. But in this case, the title is apt, and sets the bar quite high for future films in this genre.

Set in the countryside of fascist Spain shortly before the end of WWII, it concerns a young girl, Ofelia, who is drawn into a magical world where she is given three tasks to perform by a mysterious faun. Ignored by her aloof step-father (a Captain in Franco’s army) and ailing pregnant mother, Ofelia yearns to leave the ever-growing pains and horrors of our world and join the magical world promised by the faun. As Ofelia completes her tasks, her mundane life grows ever more grim and horrific, and we are left to wonder how much of her interactions with the faun and his pet “faeries” are real, or simply a fantasy used by a young girl to deal with the pain and alienation she experiences.

Del Toro, to his credit, never makes explicit if the fantastical elements are “real” or not. Often filmmakers feel the need to reinforce the “reality” of magic in such films by exposing a non-believer (usually the villain) to some sort of supernatural comeuppance. Instead, the director shows that to Ofelia, the faun and her tasks are every bit as real as the tasks taken on by Captain Vidal in his obsessive hunt for anti-fascist rebels or by the servant Mercedes in her quest to aid them. While some may say that the film gives us the option of choosing to believe Ofelia’s version of the story or the “real” world’s, I think Guillermo del Toro is instead saying that both are equally “true” and valid.

To give away more would (in my opinion) give away the film, but I do want to address a criticism I have heard concerning this film. Some have complained of the one-dimensional nature of Captain Vidal, that he is “too evil” to be believable. That the film takes no time to humanize him. But I think his part is important for showing that humans can twist themselves’ beyond redemption, that to deny your humanity (and the humanity of others) for too long twists you into something monstrous. A lesson that the Captain learns far too late to earn him any pity. To treat the character in any other manner would have diluted that lesson and destroyed the fairytale essence of the picture.

Pan’s Labyrinth may be the best “fantasy” film I have ever seen. A movie that reminds us that some of the best fairy-stories are the ones that have scared and shocked us (and that some of the best horror stories take time to delight us along the way). You should go out and see this film while you still have the chance to see it on the big screen. Oh, and one final note, this isn’t for the kids. There are plenty of gruesome scenes here not appropriate for younger viewers. So make this one a date for just you and your significant other.

On January 12th the SCI FI Channel publicized a list of upcoming shows and specials that were in development for 2007. Among them (listed last in fact) was a “docusoap” co-produced by the SCI FI Channel and Stick Figure Productions entitled “Witch School”.

“Harry Potter has nothing on this real-life Witch School! While resembling your typical classroom experience note passing, over-achievers, students who forget their homework, field trips and the dreaded pop-quiz some elements of this education are less traditional. Perhaps last night’s homework involved communicating with a deceased relative, a field trip could involve spending the night in a “haunted” forest and that pop-quiz might involve a literal plague of frogs. SCI FI Channel and Stick Figure Productions (Amish in the City, Family Bonds) will team up to present this docusoap about Ed Hubbard and his Witch School.”

But will the program ever see the airwaves? While the show is in “development” that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll ever see a finished product.

“Adrienne D’amato, spokeswoman for NBC Universal and the SCI FI Channel, said via e-mail the show is in active development but not in production. More information regarding the program is expected when production commences in the coming months.”

You have to wonder how much of this production is for the benefit of the cameras, until six months ago Witch School (which primarily exists as an online school) didn’t offer on-site courses.

“The news comes just six months after the Hoopeston establishment announced it would offer on-site courses at its home at 112 W. Main St.”

It is also interesting to note that a major rift within the Correllian Tradition (the Witchcraft tradition that runs Witch School) came shortly after the announcement of on-site classes. This allowed Don Lewis to become the president of Witch School in addition to being the head of the Correllian Tradition. A matter that has produced threats of litigation.

So while many members of the Pagan community are cringing in anticipation of what a Witch School reality program will look like, we may want to wait and see if any filming takes place, and if what is filmed ends up on television. A program “in development” can often end up in “development hell” (even if the Wiccans involved don’t believe in Hell) and a filmed pilot can gather dust on a shelf. So perhaps we will all be spared yet another installment of Wiccan involvement in reality television.

The history of Wiccans in reality television isn’t exactly stellar. You had Fiona Horne’s starring role in “Mad Mad House”, “scary” Mary O’Leary from the UK version of “Big Brother”, the Eckhart family on the never-aired show “Welcome to the Neighborhood”, the vaguely Pagan-ish New Age D’Amico-Flisher family on “Trading Spouses” (which caused the now-famous freak-out by Christian mom Marguerite Perrin) and the infamous Wiccan priestess Donna Thompson on “Wife Swap”. So I’m always a little leery when I read about yet another Wiccan family signing up for the reality television merry-go-round.

The Hovey Family: Kendra, Tim, Alana, and Alec

“Television viewers, prepare to be shocked when you see what one Wiccan family on the South Shore does virtually undetected. They go out for ice cream. Among the reasons people willingly partake in reality TV shows, promoting religious tolerance isn’t high on the list. But for the Rev. Kendra Vaughan Hovey, elder high priestess of Duxbury’s First Church of Wicca, and her husband, Tim, it’s the sole reason they agreed to star in an episode of a new series on The Learning Channel called “My Unique Family.” For the entire month of October, the Hoveys and their children Alec, 11, and Alana, 8, were filmed, followed and interviewed – at home, at church, going to work and, yes, even going out for ice cream. More than 200 hours of footage was compressed into the one-hour program scheduled to air at 10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19.”

Will The Learning Channel be more sympathetic and fair than previous reality programs? Even the family has its concerns over their imminent television portrayal.

“They haven’t yet decided if they’ll do anything special when the show airs. One member of the congregation suggested watching together on a big-screen TV, but, the Hoveys said they’re still a little worried about whether they’ll be left smiling or doing damage control that night.”

As I have said before, reality programs (for the most part) aren’t looking to normalize outsider views and faiths, just to put them on (highly edited) display. A sanitized freak-show for our modern era. No matter how positive or good-intentioned there is always a touch of outlandishness inherent in these programs, and while I always hope for the best I’m sure there was a reason the show picked a priestess who insists on wearing a Christian clerical collar.

Then again, you’ll also note they picked a Wiccan tradition that is following a congregational model (200-strong according to Rev. Hovey) instead of the more traditional coven structure. So perhaps this might be a rare normalizing effort on the part of TLC. I guess we will just have to wait and see what the show’s editors decided to portray.

It looks like winning the “Idiot of the Year” award in 2006 hasn’t slowed down Christian crusader Laura Mallory of Loganville, Georgia. Mallory is pressing forward with a Superior Court appeal to the rulings made by the local board of education to keep Harry Potter books on the shelves.

From “The Nervous Witch” by Jack T. Chick.

“Mallory said, “We will take a stand for truth, and pray God will touch the hearts of this generation.” For the past year and a half, she has vehemently preached that the books indoctrinate children in witchcraft. She hasn’t, however, actually read the books. Mallory says she is poised to take legal action and has apparently received “significant donations” from “supporters” in aid of this.”

From “The Nervous Witch” by Jack T. Chick.

Columnist Emil Steiner, who named her idiot of the year in 2006, seems to admire her almost poetic ignorance.

“Now, without going so far as calling her an idiot (oh wait), it certainly shows a high level of ignorance to believe that a book you haven’t even read is capable of converting people to a religion you know little about. Beyond the flawed logic though, Ms. Mallory’s dogmatic persistence may actually end up driving more children to read Harry Potter. In a time when faith is mired by extremism, and reading is at an all time low, perhaps she feels the only way to teach the concepts of poetic justice and the dangers of close-minded fanaticism is through a polemic gesture. If not, she is demonstrating a line of thinking that makes the Salem Witch Trials seem almost rational.”

So much for my hopes that this story (and others like it) would fade away. At this point her crusade is starting to look like some strange sort of morality play. Maybe we will find out that “Laura Mallory” is really the stage name for a liberal performance artist who is commenting on our modern culture by constructing a stereotypical ignorant evangelical to wage a Sisyphean struggle against the inevitability of Harry Potter.