The News Tribune, who recently published a story about the Washington Department of Corrections’ new policy regarding a prisoner’s ability to claim adherence to multiple faiths, weighs in with an editorial opinion on the resulting controversy.

“James Madison would have had nightmares trying to sort this one out. Such is the muddled backdrop of a new Department of Corrections policy requiring the accommodation of prisoners who profess bizarre hybrids of belief systems. The policy was forced by a lawsuit filed by an inmate who demanded to be accommodated both as a Seventh-day Adventist and a Native American practitioner. The court decided he possessed that right.”

While the paper acknowledges the philosophical bind this puts some clergy in, they also point out that the government won’t judge the merits or sincerity of a religious claim, even if that claim defies “logical scrutiny”. The editorial suggests an ever-evolving “muddle” of a compromise between clergy made uneasy by the new procedure, and inmates wanting to profess adherence to multiple faiths.

“The state would be smart not to push this policy too hard on chaplains who, like Suss, cannot accept it on principle. An explicit conscience exemption to the general rule would be in order. The best solution would be to accommodate the beliefs of inmates and chaplains alike, finessing the potential conflicts on a case-by-case basis – like finding someone else to provide the crucifix. The First Amendment is something of a muddle in prison. So the best way to deal with it there is probably to muddle through.”

While we all “muddle through” this issue, I wanted to mention a a comment made on this blog by Al Billings. Billings, who did prison ministry work with the McNeil Island prison, heard plenty about Tom Suss, the Catholic chaplain interviewed for the initial story (and referenced in the above editorial). According to him, Suss isn’t the type of man who will work towards an agreeable compromise on this issue, especially if Pagans are involved.

“Suss was *hated* by the Wiccan and Asatru inmates (the latter were forced to meet for holy days with the former as Suss didn’t recognize their group). I was constantly getting reports of Suss’ snide comments about paganism from the inmates and covert (and sometimes) overt pressure on them from him. Now, inmates bitch a lot about things that are minor but it was pretty clear at the time that Suss took his role as a Catholic priest to be far more important than wearing the impartial “Prison Chaplain” hat. Everyone is better off with him and his ilk gone from prisons that have to serve people who aren’t simply Christian.”

Which makes me wonder, how founded are the complaints made by Suss? The original article included a quote by Dick Morgan, assistant deputy secretary for the Corrections Department’s prisons division, who made it clear that clergy wouldn’t be forced to perform services for any inmate.

“Morgan pointed out that the department’s policy doesn’t require anyone to perform ecclesiastical duties that run contrary to the tenets of their religion. A Catholic priest, for example, would not have to give communion to an inmate who had not been baptized, thus violating Catholic tradition.”

So what this really boils down to is purchasing religious supplies. Something any free person can do with no impediment. I, for example, can walk into any Catholic supply store and buy a vast array of religious items without a second glance (in fact, I have done this). No doctrinal investigation required at the register. In fact, I know of no doctrinal impediment to allowing the purchase of a crucifix or a rosary, many of which are manufactured by non-Christian hands in places like China and Taiwan.

Is the “controversy” here real, or does it arise from a personal distaste at these new freedoms granted to prisoners?

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

GenQ Music interviews author, Witch, and reality television star Fiona Horne about her latest album “Witch Web”.

“I wrote the album with Paul Searles initially with the only intention being to record the songs that I personally sing in my witchy rituals. Often when doing public rituals I would sing acapella and people would ask if it was possible to buy a recording of it – now it is! But when Paul and I got in the studio we also realised we were starting to write songs that had a commercial feel and classic song arrangement, so we are happy that the album crosses over and can be enjoyed by people interested in the spiritual side as well as people who just want a chilled listening experience.”

Horne started her musical career as a singer for the dance-rock band Def FX. To listen to samples from “Witch Web” check out her MySpace page.

Ohio State University’s student paper, The Lantern, takes a look at interest in the occult on campus and discovers that OSU is the academic capital for magic in the United States.

“‘Ohio State has more scholars on the history of magic than any educational institution I’m aware of,’ said Sarah Iles Johnston, professor of Greek and Latin and director for the Center for the Study of Religion. There are six experts on the history of magic at OSU. They study the history of magic from a variety of perspectives such as its role in ancient Greek and Roman religions as well as in modern American culture.”

OSU recently hosted a lecture series to capitalize on their expertise entitled: “Through a Glass, Darkly: Public Interest in the Occult”. So for you Pagan high-school seniors trying to decide where to go for college, Ohio might be just the place for you (if your interested in studying magic that is).

Treadwells and Lastal both report that experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon will present seven films in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the union of Leila Waddell and Aleister Crowley.

“Experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon will present a live improvised set of 7 films. Each based on the individual rituals in British occultist Aleister Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis, first presented in Caxton Hall, London in 1910. Crowley based the rituals of Rites of Eleusis on each of the seven classical planets of antiquity – “Saturn”, “Jupiter”, “Mars”, “Sol” (the Sun), “Venus”, “Mercury” and “Luna”. Utilizing the entire text of Crowley’s rites as subliminal content Harmon will improvise the abstract layers of imagery to a prepared score. Presented in a 3 channel video environment Rites of Eleusis promises to be an updated public occult ritual for the 21st century.”

The performance will take place on Friday March 7th at The Horse Hospital (an arts venue) in London.

Classics professor Mary Beard bemoans the proposed removal of Britannia (the personification of the United Kingdom) from British coins.

“Britannia fits the bill rather nicely. An appropriately antique goddess, invented by the Romans, as a symbol of their new province, and used on British coins since the seventeenth century. If she goes, I don’t hold out much hope, long term, for that nice bit of Virgil (decus et tutamen — from Aeneid Book V) around the pound coin. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr Brown isn’t much of a fan of Latin.”

Will it be bad luck to remove Britain’s goddess from their coinage? Will she eventually join America’s Columbia as a half-forgotten relic from a grander time?

The Boston Globe publishes a visitors guide to Salem, Massachusetts that illustrates just how tied to witchcraft their tourism is.

“Witches put Salem on the Colonial map, and this historic North Shore city has its share of creepy and comical tributes to the practice of witchcraft. Magic supplies, herbal potions, tarot cards, “spell baskets,” custom-made capes – you’ll find them all here … Salem is loaded with museums, many of them funny-spooky places that document the city’s witchcraft history. Among them are the Witch History Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum, the Salem Witch Museum, the Salem Wax Museum, the Spellbound Museum, Salem’s Museum of Myths & Monsters, the New England Pirate Museum, and Salem’s 13 Ghosts…”

So despite those who wish to de-emphasize Salem’s “witchy” appeal, the town remains the “Witch City” of the east coast.

In a final note, a proposal has come forth on the Non-Fluffy Pagans community concerning a new “law” involving discussion about Witchcraft and society. An adage that some are calling the Witches’ equivalent to Godwin’s Law.

“In any discussion of the interaction of modern witches with the rest of society, as the length of the discussion increases, the probability of the mention of The Burning Times approaches unity.”

With the new law comes a proposed corollary:

“In any argument related to modern witchcraft, the first person to mention The Burning Times automatically loses the argument.”

The new law has been dubbed “Brock’s Law” after the author.

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

In the wake of a lawsuit, the Washington Department of Corrections has altered its policy regarding a prisoner’s adherence to multiple faiths. Under the old rules, an inmate had to get written permission from each faith before being able to claim dual adherence. Now, those barriers have been removed, and any inmate may simply declare their involvement in multiple religions.

“It used to be difficult for state prison inmates to belong to multiple faiths. The offender had to have written permission from each religion saying it was OK to be a member of both simultaneously … That changed Dec. 12, when the Corrections Department started allowing inmates to simply profess to belong to multiple religions simultaneously. The change was part of a settlement of an inmate’s lawsuit. The inmate had contended the state was violating federal law by prohibiting him from worshiping as both a Native American practitioner and as a Seventh-day Adventist. The department eventually relented, gave the inmate $1,500 and changed its policy. Not long after, Suss said, an inmate at McNeil Island decided to become both Catholic and Asatru, a movement harkening back to the pre-Christian paganism of Europe and Scandinavia.”

The article interviews a Catholic prison chaplain who is taking a leave of absence due to this new development, and may not return because his traditionalist stance on faith makes dual-adherence a logical impossibility.

“Common sense says you cannot be a pagan Christian,” he said. “As a state chaplain, I must endorse state policy. I have to be willing to endorse this inmate’s freedom to be both religions at the same time, but my own convictions being a Catholic priest don’t allow for a Catholic to be a pagan at the same time.”

Before we go deeper into the priest’s problems, we need to take a moment to discuss the question of “Christo-Pagans” (Pagans who adhere to some form of Christian belief). Most Pagans don’t claim to have the “only” or “one true” way of relating to the divine. In theory, there is nothing preventing a Pagan from practicing within multiple faiths (though wild eclecticism is frowned on in some quarters), the problem arises when one of the claimed faiths has an exclusionary view of truth and conception of the divine (many forms of Christianity, for example). This can create hostility and criticism from both sides when it happens.

Outside of a prison environment, these dual-practitioners usually settle into a comfortable compromise of their own that rarely confronts the traditionalists within exclusionary faiths (or other Pagans). Often these dual (or multiple) faith adherents gravitate towards the more “liberal” manifestations of the traditional monotheisms, or simply create their own private or group practice. As a result you can find Quaker Pagans, Jewitchery, Morwics, and a wide variety of Christopagans (not to mention syncretic faiths like Santeria and Voodoo).

Inside of prison, where just about every activity is regimented and overseen, true religious freedom has been harder to come by, sometimes due to security concerns, but often due to rigid and often discriminatory views of how faith should be handled. But since 2000, when the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act was passed, inmates have been winning wider freedoms, including the right to belong to more than one faith. A prospect that stymies some officials in Washinton.

“State Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, heard of Suss’ situation and is adding language to an existing prisons bill aimed at protecting the jobs of chaplains whose duties come into conflict with their faith … ‘I don’t know how somebody can be a pagan and a Catholic,’ Carrell said. ‘That’s like being partly pregnant.’”

But this new freedom to engage in a multiple faiths is hardly a major burden on traditionalists. No Catholic, for example, will be forced to give communion to someone he feels has transgressed against the faith. In fact, the only real complaint comes down to buying religious supplies.

“If I stayed, the individual who identified himself as Asatru/Catholic could come in for religious items and if I refused, he could sue me,” Suss said. “And the department would not defend me because I refused to endorse state policy.”

When it was pointed out that a different clerk could sell the items, the disgruntled Catholic chaplain then displayed how out of touch he truly was with the modern world.

“Why should we allow them to be in prison what they can’t be on the street?”

Of course “on the street” people are free to believe (or disbelieve) whatever they want. Their religious and spiritual options are virtually limitless. They engage in several religious traditions with little to no negative repercussion. Perhaps it is time for Father Tom Suss to retire, after all, Pagans outnumber Catholics in Washington prisons (they are, in fact, second only to Protestants), and I haven’t heard of any official Pagan chaplains being hired to service that population. Perhaps lawmakers in Washington should deal with that issue before arguing over whether Christo-Pagans can truly exist.

A couple of interesting book-related articles to check out this morning, the first comes from the San Francisco Gate, who interviews Pagan author Waverly Fitzgerald concerning her new book “Slow Time: Recovering the Natural Rhythm of Life”.

“Spiritual teacher and author Waverly Fitzgerald believes we’d all benefit by changing our ideas and relationships with time. In her new book, “Slow Time,” Fitzgerald, who has written for Beliefnet and Sage Woman magazine, provides exercises and ideas intended to inspire people to align themselves with nature’s natural rhythms – night and day, the monthly lunar cycle and the yearly solar round – rather than living their lives to the frenzied beat of industrial time.”

For Fitzgerald, connecting religiously with the changing seasons is one way to “slow” your conception of time from the “frenetic” pace of our industrialized world.

“Most of the major religions have a seasonal liturgy, even though it may be sort of buried. If you look at Christianity, with the Easter cycle and the Christmas birth, there is this lovely use of the seasons to tell a story, and the same is true in the Jewish religion. And, of course, the pagan religion really works with this notion of the seasons and the cycle. So there is a very deep connection between this notion of cyclical time and spirituality. And there is a message of hope that things will come around again, that we may feel despair but spring will come again. It is a pretty profound metaphor that is embedded in our lives.”

Meanwhile, over at Salon.com, Laura Miller rips apart Mark Booth’s uneven examination of the history of the world through the eyes of esoteric secret societies.

“…you might conclude that “The Secret History of the World” is a truckload of drivel, and you would be right. It is a mess of a book, disjointed and rambling, rife with puzzling non sequiturs that are obviously meant to be suggestive or evocative but that more often read like the symptoms of an advanced case of Attention Deficit Disorder … Booth is forever intimating that he’s about to explain something important to the reader and then abruptly dropping the subject. He has all the smoke and cymbals of the Great and Terrible Oz, but can rarely muster even the fake disembodied head as a crescendo … Furthermore, much of the “information” Booth chooses to supply is either incorrect or, frankly, untrue. Some of these errors seem to be the result of simple ignorance.”

So if you are looking for the inside scoop on the importance of secret societies, and what they believed, “The Secret History of the World: As Laid Down by the Secret Societies” may not be the book for you. You might be better off with a work like “Hidden Wisdom”, by former Gnosis editors Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney, if you want to understand what contributions esoteric secret societies have made to our culture.

The Toronto Sun reports on a controversy within the world of beauty pageants. Stephanie Conover, who was crowned Miss Canada Plus 2007, was invited to be a judge at the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant. Everything seemed to be going fine until Conover received a letter un-inviting her because of the interests listed on her bio.

Stephanie Conover

“Upon receiving her bio,” it said, “we have decided against her being a judge. We need a judge who has an upright reputation, (who) we would be proud to introduce to the audience. She states that her hobbies are yoga, reiki and tarot card reading. Our board of directors has eliminated her as a judge as tarot card reading and reiki are the occult and … not acceptable by God, Jews, Muslims or Christians.”

The pageant, which isn’t officially affiliated with Toronto in any way, claimed that some were afraid she would use tarot cards to choose a winner. Despite this religiously-motivated snub, Miss Toronto Tourism officials claim they are not a “religious pageant”.

“We are not a religious pageant,” director Karen Hunter assures me. She says folks of many backgrounds will be at the waterfront Radisson Admiral hotel on the big night. “We don’t want to offend anybody.”

It seems a little late for that. As for Stephanie Conover, she decided to use this opportunity to out her own religious preferences.

“Oh, and she’s a Wiccan. Yep, she tells me, she’s a witch. A good witch. ‘I don’t commune with dark forces.’ So no need to hang garlic in the pageant ballroom. ‘We don’t even believe in the devil,’ says Stephanie. ‘We believe whatever you send out into the world, good or bad, comes back to you, times three.’”

So there you have it, the first openly (to my knowledge) Pagan beauty queen. One only hopes that organizers of the larger conventions and festivals in North America will take advantage of this potential public relations coup. Have Miss Canada Plus 2007 speak at your event!

There have been some stories of note concerning indigenous faith and politics that have been popping up recently that might be of interest to my modern Pagan audience. Starting off, Reuters has a wonderful article about the Bolivian celebration of Alasita (which, according to some, translates as “buy me”), the festival of abundance that takes place on January 24th.

“Bolivians are crowding the steep cobbled streets of La Paz these days to pay homage to Ekeko, the squat mustached Andean god of abundance. They load down colourful Ekeko statues with tiny items representing prosperity, something elusive in South America’s poorest country. It’s the annual festival of Alasita, the time when Bolivians like to buy trinkets representing their wishes for the new year in the hope Ekeko will make them come true.”

In addition to giving symbolic offerings to Ekeko, people also have their gifts blessed by a local shaman or Catholic priest (and very often, both). Evo Morales, the first fully indigenous president of Bolivia, was given a tiny hen so he can find a partner during the coming year, and a tiny copy of the controversial new constitution he is proposing.

Back in August I reported on how the presidential front-runners seemed to be avoiding taking a stand on issues directly affecting minority faiths in America. This indifference seemed to culminate with the seminal “Prez on the Rez” Democratic debate, in which all the presidential front-runners declined to attend, all stating “scheduling conflicts”.

“If they won’t come talk to us now, they certainly won’t be responsive to us if they get in the White House,” said Kalyn Free, a Choctaw from Oklahoma who is organizing the Democratic forum, called “Prez on the Rez.”

But now that several “Super Tuesday” primaries are coming up that could be swayed by votes from Indian Country things are a bit different, most notably, Barack Obama has been making great gains among American Indians despite doing “everything wrong”.

“He hasn’t attended the annual National Congress of American Indians meet, or rolled out a comprehensive Native American agenda, or even addressed the rumors of his own Native heritage – but he has still, somehow, managed to capture the imagination of Indian Country, say Native American commentators and community activists. Whether that wave of goodwill is enough to carry him to “Super Tuesday” primary victories in the states of Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Arizona, remains to be seen. ‘Obama represents a break from the old – something fresh and new,’ says Paul DeMain, managing editor of the Northern Wisconsin-based newspaper News from Indian Country. ‘Native people are looking at him as someone who can empathize with other people of color.’”

Obama’s rising star among Native voters seems to have made the candidate more receptive to issues within Indian Country, as evidenced by a recent Q&A in Nevada.

“Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) said he would meet regularly with tribal leaders if he were elected president … Obama said he would work to improve the health and welfare of Native Americans. He is a co-sponsor of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act that is being debated in the Senate this week.”

None of this means that Obama has a lock on the Native vote, many American Indian leaders look fondly on the Clinton years and support Hillary Clinton. One thing is for certain, American Indians will play a crucial role in this year’s primaries and candidates ignore them at their own peril.

In a final note, initial announcements have been made for the 4th Amazonian Shamanism Conference held July 19th – 27th in Peru. Guests include writer Peter Gorman, noted ayahuasca researcher Luis Eduardo Luna, 15 different native curanderos/shamans, and two Brujos.

“During the Conference Presentations you will have ample opportunities to hear the many shamans speaking alone as well as in panel discussions. It is during this time that you will get a sense of which healer you would like to be in Ceremony with. Especially during the question and answer times. There are three evenings set aside for you to be in Ceremony with the shaman – curandero or your choice. All Ceremonies are held outside of Iquitos, either up or downriver or way out on the Iquitos to Nauta highway and then a short 15 minute walk into the various Compounds.”

The conference is sponsored by Soga del Alma (“vine of the soul”), a church that advocates for the use of “power plants” (entheogens like ayahuasca) in a religious context.

The Tulsa City Council has decided to change their “unwritten” policy concerning opening prayers to now allow references to specific deities.

“Tulsa’s City Council voted Thursday to change an unwritten policy so that people can name a deity when praying before the council’s regular weekly meetings … The council’s previous prayer policy, which prohibited the use of the name of Jesus, Allah or other religious figures, had prompted complaints. Councilor Rick Westcott, who sponsored the change along with Councilors Bill Christiansen, John Eagleton and Cason Carter, said it was warranted because of Tulsa’s rich history of a variety of faiths. “I think it’s important for this council to open this meeting with prayers that allow people to express the fullness of their faiths,” Westcott said.”

The new policy passed 7-2 despite critics invoking conservative Christianity’s ongoing fear that their “religious freedom” chickens will eventually come home to roost.

“Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry Executive Director James Mishler also spoke against the change, questioning who would decide what is a “recognized congregation.” “I think the very people who have been encouraging you to make this change are going to be very uncomfortable when the priest from the Hindu temple is standing here chanting in the name of Krishna or when someone from the Wiccan community offers prayers to the earth mother,” he said.”

Do you lead a Pagan congregation in Tulsa? I encourage you to contact the city council and volunteer to give an opening prayer. Councilor Bill Martinson has said that he wants “varied” faiths to participate so that “one denomination does not dominate the prayer week after week.” Lets see how strong their commitment to religious freedom really is.

Brief Updates on Past Stories

I would also like to give a couple brief updates on stories I have reported on previously. First off, Livingston Parish in Louisiana has decided to hold an open hearing on Feb. 11. to discuss repealing its anti-soothsaying ordinance.

“Councilman Randy Rushing, who said the ordinance is “not going to hold up” in court, made the motion to hold a hearing on the proposal to repeal the ordinance, which was enacted last year. Rushing’s proposal was approved 5-2. The hearing will be held during the council’s next meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 11.”

This move comes after a local Wiccan brought federal litigation against the parish, and the parish’s lawyer advised the council that they would most likely lose in court. I’m no soothsayer, but I predict that ordinance will be repealed before the end of February.

Secondly, police investigators in San Diego have ruled that the death of Wiccan priestess Mimi Rohwer is indeed a homicide, and not accidental.

“Investigators ruled the death a homicide Thursday after the autopsy, which showed she was strangled by hands and not with an object, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.”

The prime suspect is Julio Cesar Jacobo-Curiel, a day-laborer who had been staying with Rohwer, and who has been missing since her death. Witnesses claim that Rohwer had been having problems with Jacobo-Curiel, and wanted him to move out. Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. To leave an anonymous tip, call (888) 580-TIPS.