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

Columnist Steven Wells puts the Britney Spears’ head-shaving (and Anna Nicole Smith’s death) in perspective for us.

“Britney is the new Kurt Cobain. And the new Tupac. And the new Jesus. And the new John Barleycorn-the strawman ritually murdered and resurrected every harvest season in the English pagan tradition … The fact is we need Britney to sacrifice herself for us … Britney is … going publicly potty on our behalf as a penance for her fellow celebs not popping clog fast enough. We need to thank her for that. And sharpen our sickles. I feel a harvest coming on.”

Britney’s melt-down as a symbolic harvest sacrifice? I suspect that Joseph Campbell might be spinning in his grave.

The St. Louis River Front Times interviews author and Witch Laura Stamps about her occult novels aimed at women.

“I had shopped it around to a lot of publishers. They’re not crazy about anything with witches if it doesn’t have a lot of sex, death, blood, guts and adultery, which I don’t have. I write spiritual books to help you become a better person. The thing that’s really neat, that witches really like about them, is not only do I include useful tips in there, things about cats and perimenopause, but every chapter has a real chant, ritual or spell in it from my Book of Shadows.”

The future of books about Wicca? Novels intertwined with spells and rituals?

In one of the stranger melding of religions I have seen, a couple got married in a Pagan ceremony at a festival in honor of the show “Father Ted” (a hilarious spoof of Catholic priests on a remote island off the coast of Ireland).

“Bride Louise Kiernan, 24, from Swords in Dublin and groom Luke Callanan, 33, from Limerick tied the knot in a Druid ceremony. “I will love, honour and make you tea all the days of my life,” Louise vowed. ‘Will you marry me? Go on, go on, go on!’”

I’m sure if the real Father Ted was there he might issue a stern “down with this sort of thing”. Or maybe not.

David Attenborough discusses humanity’s long love of depicting animals in art. Starting with the neolithic and moving forward through history.

“Animals were the first things that human beings drew. Not plants. Not landscapes. Not even themselves. But animals. Why? The earliest known drawings are some 30,000 years old. They survive in the depths of caves in western Europe. The fact that some people crawled for half a mile or more along underground passages through the blackness is evidence enough that the production of such pictures was an act of great importance to these artists…This practice of painting images of animals on walls has persisted throughout our history. Five thousand years ago, when men in Egypt began to build the world’s first cities, they too inscribed images of animals on their walls. There is no doubt about the function of at least some of these: the Egyptians worshipped animals as gods. But Egyptian artists also delighted in their natural beauty, for they adorned the walls of their own underground tombs with pictures. The mummified dead in the next world would surely wish to be reminded of the beauties and delights of this one.”

In Attenborough’s view, it is a shared “profound joy” felt by those who immerse themselves in the natural world that links the different portrayals of the animal kingdom through history together.

A columnist in Tampa Bay mis-characterizes the religion of Santeria in order to make about point about keeping religion out of public school.

“Is this somewhere we really want to go? If followers of Santeria wished to bless the desks with the blood of the goat they just sacrificed in the classroom, would we respect that, as the principal in question is asking us to respect her beliefs? Or should we disallow the followers of any other religion to practice their beliefs in our schools?”

Yeah, and I hear Christians have these huge orgies called “love feasts”, and they drink blood and eat flesh at them!

In a final note, the press is abuzz over Daniel Radcliffe’s (who plays Harry Potter in the popular films) performance in Peter Shaffer’s play “Equus”.

“For the most part, Radcliffe’s performance is assured. His vocal range may be a bit narrow — he has a tendency to convey Strang’s anguish by shouting — but his hooded eyes and hunched, defensive posture convey a wounded and bewildered young man. And when he finally lets loose in the climactic 10 minutes of nudity, he is emotionally unrestrained and compelling…Radcliffe aside, Shaffer’s play is given a strong, sensuous staging by young director Thea Sharrock. The play itself can feel a tad self-important, as Shaffer paints a swirl of the pagan, the primitive and the psyche around Strang’s quasi-spiritual, erotic obsession with horses.”

Harry Potter then “Equus”? Certain Christian groups are never going to like this guy (though I’m sure his large number of fans and royalty checks help him get over that fact).

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

One of the best (and most “pagan”) re-tellings of the Robin Hood legend has to be the 1980s English production “Robin of Sherwood”. The television show, created by screenwriter Richard Carpenter, placed a heavy focus on occult and supernatural elements and sported a much beloved soundtrack by the Irish musical group Clannad. Until now you had to order the set as an import from England, but Acorn Media Group is releasing the first two seasons of the show as a set in America.

The cast of “Robin of Sherwood”.

“Acorn Media announces the March 13, 2007 U.S. DVD debut of Robin of Sherwood, Set 1, the definitive retelling of the Robin Hood legend with gritty period realism and a mix of history and myth. The 5-volume DVD box set includes all 13 episodes in Series 1 & 2 and a bonus fifth disc devoted exclusively to more than eight hours of special features.”

Unlike previous television and movie re-tellings, this Robin Hood is a bit grittier and is a devotee of an underground pagan survival that worships Herne the Hunter. An element that made it distinctive among the various Robin Hood myths (and quite popular amongst the modern Pagans who were able to see it). It certainly had a big effect on my early Pagan days back in the early nineties when I first saw a couple episodes at a science fiction convention.

Don Houston, who reviews the new DVD set for DVD Talk, discusses the attention to detail within the series that allowed the series to overcome its tiny budget.

“Paring down all the tacked on silliness that has been associated with the character over the years (most horribly handled in the Kevin Costner flick from the 1990′s that managed to “borrow” portions of the ideas from the series but only sparingly to it’s discredit), Carpenter had the show shot in the actual forests of England, even going so far as to move the locations to areas where the trees were similar to those native to the time frame of the events. Weaving in bits of myth and history far more carefully than previously done, he and the rest of the creative team managed to instill a realness to the show that surpassed the low budgets with a sense of charm all its own.”

A few years back, my wife and I sprung for an import of the entire series (including the third and last season starring Jason Connery). I don’t want to disclose how much I spent, but I will tell you that the $45.00 pre-order price at Amazon is a lot cheaper than what I paid. This is an ideal time to discover (or re-discover) this classic show.

Last night was the 79th annual Academy Awards. While others were grousing about their Oscar burn-out (which tells me they are paying too much attention to the Hollywood promotional machine), I found this years awards to be delightfully entertaining. This could partially be attributed to the fact that one of the films I was rooting for, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” swept up three awards early in the show (art direction, makeup, and cinematography).

Guillermo del Toro (center) with fellow Mexican film directors.

Sadly “Pan’s Labyrinth” didn’t pick up the coveted award for best foreign film, but I think winning three Academy Awards isn’t too shabby. It was also nice to see that Helen Mirren picked up the best actress award. While Mirren was very good in “The Queen”, she’ll always be Morgana from John Boorman’s “Excalibur” to me.

Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth and Morgana.

Also of note for my readers is the fact that the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” won two Academy Awards, one for best documentary feature, and one for best original song (written and performed by Melissa Etheridge). Oh, and Martin Scorsese finally got his Oscar. For a full list of last nights winners click, here.

In related news, Nicolas Cage and his horrid remake of “The Wicker Man” got shut out at this years Razzies (“Basic Instinct 2″ dominated most categories). I personally think Cage was robbed, when you see a highlight reel like this, how could you not think it the worst movie you saw this year?

Marvel Comics (home of Spider-Man) has announced a limited series to revive its stable of magic-based characters. Leading up this effort will be David Sexton, creator of the “Winged Spirit Tarot”, and the “Tarot of Oz”. Unsurprisingly, the series will have a tarot-based theme.

“The series is called Mystic Arcana because the characters all have “mystic and arcane” pedigrees, but also because the Minor Arcana of the Tarot will serve as a unifying “element” to the stories. And we are all working hard to, through this series establish the status quo and ground rules for Magic in the Marvel Universe…The four books will connect to the four suits of the Tarot’s Minor Arcana, which in turn correspond the four classic Elements; Air, Earth, Water and Fire.”

Sister Grimm (wands), Scarlet Witch (cups)
The Black Knight (pentacles), Magick (swords)

During the interview, Sexton also takes some time to discuss the tarot for comic readers unfamiliar with the concepts.

“Tarot cards are symbols of important kinds of people (like an Empress or a Magician) and important ideas (like “Everything changes” and “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”) The person who wants to learn something draws a predetermined number of random cards from the Tarot Deck. Then the Tarot card reader puts the people and ideas (on the cards) into special patterns called folds. The way the cards end up fitting into the pattern or fold tells a story to the card reader about the person who drew the cards.”

Sexton isn’t the first tarot expert to foray into comic books, Rachel Pollack (author of the classic tarot text “78 Degrees of Wisdom”) wrote several comics for DC, including “Doom Patrol” and “Brother Power the Geek”. Other comic-tarot connections include artist Dave McKean (“Sandman”, “Cages”), who has illustrated two tarot decks.

The series will debut in June at your local comic shop.

The Leaf-Chronicle in Tennessee profiles a New Age store that is switching over to a Christian book store due to a religious change of heart by the owner. Susie Clark, who bought a pre-existing New Age store to escape the grief of her husband dying, is now selling off all of her non-Christian stock to make a space more in tune with her new returning faith in Christianity.

“Susie Clark has tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise staring her in the face. All of it must be sold by Wednesday. Despite that pressure, she feels lighter, freer and happier than she has the last two years…Clark bought Body, Mind and Spirit from then-owner Annette Cunningham in July 2005, shortly before Cunningham died of cancer…Soon, classes on the power of crystals were being held in the shop. A psychic came in several times a week to offer readings to customers. A Wicca circle, composed of witches who practice the nature-based Pagan religion, began meeting there.”

The article seems to go out of its way to equate a certain “darkness” and wrongness to the New Age and Pagan items they sold.

“And Clark got sadder and sicker…Since opening the store, Clark went completely deaf, with little explanation…Jeff Stark, associate pastor of Clarksville First Church of the Nazarene, says the God he worships is a loving, protective God. While he doesn’t believe God caused Clark’s illness, he does believe God communicates through people’s lives. “There’s a way God speaks through our circumstances and makes us think, ‘Where was I going?’” he says…Clark hoped her shop would be a place of hope and healing for herself and others who were grieving. “It didn’t turn out that way,” Clark says. “I had some people on staff that were completely Wiccan. Then there was what the customers wanted. My whole vision of what I wanted to do went out the window.” Despite being profitable, the store was dragging Clark deeper and deeper into a pit of blackness.”

Despite being rescued from her “pit of blackness”, and “getting her brain back”, Clark doesn’t seem to mind a Wiccan helping her redesign the store’s computer system.

“Even Daphne Redd, a Wiccan who is working with Clark to redesign the store’s computer system, says she supports Clark’s decision. ‘I bless her for it. There’s no harm in it for me,’ Redd says. ‘The church did not come in here and demand her change her ways. She chose something based on her own conviction.’”

In a related article on the shop’s shift in focus, Clark and her business adviser hope the new store will be more welcoming.

“Clark hopes an uplifting, welcoming atmosphere will attract people of all religions to the new store…John Lee, who has experience running Christian bookstores and is helping Clark with the transition, says they hope to create a place where all people feel comfortable.”

I think they mean make “Christians” feel comfortable. I’m sure the Pagans felt comfortable already, and may feel less so now. While I’m happy that the owner is happy, I would have liked to hear more from the local Pagan and metaphysical community. How do they feel about the change? Are any of them upset that the dying woman she bought the store from wouldn’t have wanted it to become yet another Christian book store? Where do they plan to gather and shop now? Information that would have enriched and balanced the story.

This weekend the very best, and worst, in film will be celebrated. On Sunday, the 79th Academy Awards (The Oscars) will be handed out to those films thought to be the very best of the past year, and the day before that you’ll see the Golden Raspberries (The Razzies) handed out to the very, very worst. Films with pagan themes hold the strange honor of holding several nominations in both.

In the category of the very best is Guillermo del Toro’s masterful “Pan’s Labyrinth”. This dark fairytale, set during the rise of Franco in Spain, has garnered six Oscar nominations. Achievement in Art Direction, Achievement in Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, Achievement in Makeup, Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score), and Original Screenplay.

Guillermo del Toro with Doug Jones as ‘the faun’.

Del Toro’s film has earned high praise from critics (including Stephen King), and won the “Golden Tomato” award from Rotten Tomatoes for being the best-reviewed foreign film of 2006. This film was widely anticipated by many in the Pagan community, and few (I think) were disappointed with the final product. You can read my review of the film, here.

“It’s a matter of creating a fairy tale that is in favor of disobedience – obedience disguised as blind patriotism is often invoked for the worst causes. It’s at a time when we are supposed to be better people by not questioning anything and in reality we are better people by doing it.” – Guillermo Del Toro, Oscar Watch

On the opposite side of the scale is perhaps one of the most ill-advised remakes in movie history, “The Wicker Man”. Based loosely off the amazing 1973 film about a police officer running afoul of a island of Pagans off the Scottish coast, and starring Christopher Lee and directed by Robin Hardy, this remake by Nicolas Cage* and Neil LaBute takes everything that was good about the original and turns it into a bizarre misogynist screed involving killer bees.

Nicolas Cage and Neil LaBute discussing their bizarre hatred of women.

Thus, one of the most beloved pagan-themed films is remade into one of the worst pagan-themed films of all time. As a consequence it has racked up an impressive five nominations in the Razzies. Worst Picture, Actor, Screenplay, Remake and Screen Couple. I never formally reviewed the film on this blog, but I did eventually see it on DVD, and it truly is one of the worst films I ever had to sit through (the director’s commentary is the only truly scary thing about it). Here is what HecklerSpray had to say about the film in their Razzies betting odds.

“You tend to get an idea that a film remake is bad when the director of the original angrily instructs his lawyers to remove his name from all promotional material for the remake, and that’s just what happened with The Wicker Man. In years to come, The Wicker Man will be used as a blueprint for what not to do when you’re remaking a classic film. You don’t swap a creepy pagan island for a town full of feminists. You don’t replace Edward Woodward’s righteous fundamental Christian virgin policeman for Nicolas Cage being a bit scared of bees. And you absolutely don’t tack on a ridiculous ending starring the angry boy from Spider-Man just for the hell of it. The Wicker Man is so profoundly awful it almost verges on sacrilege but – incredibly – The Razzies say it wasn’t the worst film from the last year. Current Razzies Worst Movie betting odds – 6/1″

I hope both films sweep their nominated categories.

*Perhaps not so coincidently, Nicolas Cage ruined another of my favorite films with his “Wings of Desire” remake “City of Angels”. Maybe he should stick to playing roles like “Ghost Rider”.

As I mentioned earlier this week, Pantheacon, perhaps the largest indoor Pagan convention, occurred this past weekend. Now that everyone has had a chance to rest a bit from the festivities, thoughts and experiences from the weekend are popping up in the Pagan blogosphere.

Anne Hill talks about the highs and lows of this years P-Con. Among the lows is the manner of dress for certain attendees.

“….it’s bad enough that a certain elder in the community thinks it’s a good idea to walk around in a wizard costume to promote his new book and correspondence course. He had us covered for “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” lookalikes. But the Johnny Depp wannabe was just disturbing. In the first place, he was in no way as good looking as Johnny Depp, which made him an object of derision more than a sex symbol – probably not the effect he had intended. In the second place, it was annoying to see some guy in a pirate outfit with beads hanging from his beard every day. He served as a reminder that many among us are in no way ready for prime time, and that it’s really a good thing Christopher Guest hasn’t chosen the Pagan community to mock in his next film feature. Why bother, when we mock ourselves so well?”

Deborah Oak, in the comments of Anne Hill’s blog, brings up a common fashion complaint at Pagan gatherings. What is up with all the medieval/renaissance garb?

“My fashion peeve is the overabundance of Medieval garb. Why do we pagans have to constantly invoke the dark ages? Why?”

On her own blog, Oak says that Pantheacon left her with the impression that the modern Pagan community is maturing (despite the outfits).

“…am still ruminating on the experience, which was overwhelmingly positive. Witches and pagans are indeed moving on from the state of reaction and reclaiming and as a whole I felt the maturing of the Craft.”

Thorn Coyle speaks fondly of the conversations she had at the convention.

“The highlights for me are always the conversations, which this year included the video documentary I’m working on with a friend. What a joy to listen to and film smart people with deep practice and enough engagement in their respective traditions to have theological ideas about even ingrained patterns of speech (I got to ask “What do you mean when you say ‘The Goddess’?” and get a tasty answer in reply!), or enough history in their studies to be able to chart the current wave we are on in relation to other transformative waves. Scratch someone with mastery and you’ll get some interesting answers.”

Alfrecht gives a very detailed account of his weekend there.

“Much which was unexpected took place in the course of these several days, but all of it, without exception, was positive, despite some frustrations here and there. Aster articulated and summarized an excellent point which could be applied to the entire experience: “Magic is the world suddenly acquiring a plot.” I hope that this plot is one which others are interested in, or at least are as interested in as I am!”

Erynn Rowan Laurie discusses why she had to turn Llewellyn down at the convention.

“Talked to Isaac Bonewits and it turned out he was dining with the acquisitions editor and the publicist from Llewellyn, who immediate pounced upon me and were desperate for me to write for them. I gently turned them down, explaining that a CR 101 would probably work for their audience, but I’d promised my ogam book to Megalithica, and that really, a book on filidecht would deal with the search for illumination that results in one of three things — poetry, madness or DEATH — and that honest, I didn’t think their target market was quite ready for that.”

A blogger by the name of “ardgruntler” was a bit dismayed by how quickly mutual friendship and respect dissipated after the convention.

“Are We Serious or Not? Because I’m finding it a little tough to see the leaders who were talking the ‘we need to stand together as pagans’ ‘walk’ at Pantheacon – two days later taking pot shots again. I’ve gone from really hopeful to kinda sad. And I feel a little bad myself. The best I can say about my behavior is that I didn’t level shots at other organizations, just my own. (Don’t know which is worse. But, since looking at one’s own house with a critical eye is essential to any real growth, I’ll stick with the former.)”

And in a final note, an attendee by the name of Todd praises Margot Adler for telling modern Pagans we need to shape up (literally).

“Kudos to Margot for facing probably three hundred Pagans and telling us all “We need to take better care of ourselves [i.e, physically].” And P-Con programming folks: When you get my proposal to lead a morning “fun run/walk” each day next year, take it seriously.”

On that note, I think I’ll head off to the gym.