Thanks to a reader tip-off, I got to read a doozy of an article from a Christian newspaper in Philadelphia. This one has it all folks. Satanism, abortion, how abortion is Satanic worship, Harry Potter, Twilight, exorcisms, and how “soft-core” occultism leads to the “hard-core” Satanic stuff.

“I predict that in the next 10 years or so, we’ll see an explosion of occult activity,” said Fr. Euteneuer. “The number of soft-core occultism in the form of things like Harry Potter, Wicca and the New Age is on the increase. These are the gateways to the hardcore stuff. Ask any inner-city police department if they’re seeing evidence of Satanism. They’re organizing whole task forces to deal with crimes having to do with these things. As society becomes more faithless, this wickedness comes and fills the vacuum.”

Quick! Find an “inner-city” police department and ask if they have an occult crimes task force (just like in the comic books)! Do they know about the slippery-slope from Harry Potter/Twilight to Wicca to Satanic abortions? Is “soft-core” occultism when they only do the Great Rite symbolically, or is it “in true” but with flattering camera angles and gauzy filters? These are serious questions that need answers! I’m so glad Catholics finished removing all the planks from their own eyes, so they could spend time telling lies demonizing helping those lost in soft-core occultism with finding the specks in theirs.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports on a resurgence of interest in Vodou among younger Haitian-Americans. Looking to reconnect with their cultural heritage, they are often drawn by half-remembered childhood memories of their parents and grandparents attending rituals and practicing Vodou.

It is hard to quantify the religion’s growth because Vodou is often practiced at home, said Elizabeth McAlister, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University, who has written extensively about Vodou. But research shows the religion is becoming more prevalent among well-heeled first and second generation Haitians, as well as people of various backgrounds, she said. Ruby LaCroix, 39, of West Palm Beach became intrigued by Vodou when she began to study Haiti’s history in college. She left Haiti when she was 8 years old and had questions about some of the traditions she grew up watching her grandmother practice. “I was looking to find out more about myself, about being Haitian and what that means,” she said.

One thing that I felt was striking about the article was the attitudes of these new practitioners. Much like the largely European-based modern Pagan faiths, there is an emphasis on fighting misconceptions, taking pride in their religious choices, and a slow shedding of insularity among practitioners.

Gone, for most, is the shame that used to be associated with the stigmatized religion. Unlike some of their parents who practiced Vodou in secrecy, the newcomers to the religion invite friends to Vodou ceremonies, have altars in their homes and work to shatter the stereotypes.

One wonders if a similar trend also manifesting among younger Hispanic, Latino, and Brazilian-American practitioners of Santeria, Candomble, and other related traditions, or if this is a uniquely Haitian-American phenomenon. Whatever the extent of this new interest in African diasporic faiths among younger people, it does seem to signal a willingness to step outside a purely Catholic/Christian identity among immigrants within a generation or two.

Ricardo Petit-Homme left Haiti when he was 4, and was raised a staunch Catholic. “From christening to penance and then confirmation, I did it all,” the 30-year-old interior decorator said. But not that long ago, he felt spiritually disconnected. He had dreams that needed to be interpreted, questions about his purpose and a burning desire to connect more deeply with his roots. He turned to Vodou.

It’s interesting that even younger Haitian-Americans who had no prolonged exposure to Vodou see that faith as a more genuine expression of their culture and roots than the Catholicism that is so dominant throughout the Caribbean. It is little wonder that I see Haitian Vodou (and other diasporic faiths) as a “cousin” to the modern Pagan faiths. There is so much overlap, not only in matters of theology and praxis, but in the motivations and attitudes of the newer converts. It should be interesting to see how this trend develops, and if we’ll see a gradual growth of networking, activism, and shared resources not only among the various African diasporic faiths, but with other religious minorities who have similar goals.

The slow and regrettably public self-destruction of Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey continues. This self-proclaimed head of the “Vampyres, Witches, and Pagans Party” has managed more press attention than any joke candidate deserves. Now he’s in jail after ignoring court summons concerning charges of harassment against an underage girl (that he was allegedly cyber-dating at some point).

He’s run for governor and president and claims to lead a nation. Now, John Alfred Sharkey, 44, is in the Olmsted County jail, in lieu of posting $125,000 bail, accused of sending harassing e-mails to a Rochester teenager in 2007. The criminal complaint against Sharkey was filed last summer, but he didn’t make his first court appearance until last month after being arrested on a warrant. During his first court appearance Jan. 12, bail was set at $75,000. He was appointed a public defender, Rick Smith, who filed a motion for a bail reduction. Last week, his bail was increased to $125,000.

Turns out, not only is Sharkey a creepy stalker into cyber-dating girls young enough to be his daughter, but he apparently has no sense of humor either.

The girl told police they began dating online. She said she tried to end the online relationship but he refused to let her. She said that “in a desperate attempt” to get him to leave her alone, she e-mailed him that she was a member of an elite vampire hunter society and for the two of them to continue their relationship would put him in danger. She said that he called her cell phone and that she answered only after he sent her an e-mail threatening to call her family. The girl told police she felt she had to follow his demands and continue their relationship. She claimed he sent and made threatening and coercive e-mails and phone calls. The girl’s father told police that he talked to Sharkey but that Sharkey continued to call the girl and write letters to her parents.

That has to be one of the best break-up attempts I’ve ever heard. It’d be hilarious if Sharkey didn’t believe this girl was “his wife and princess” and didn’t already have a long history of harassing and stalking women. Maybe some time in a jail cell will bring home to him the notion that his 15 minutes of fame are up, that he needs some serious mental help, and that if you keep asking for media attention, you should be careful what you wish for. I suppose I should know better, but I hope this is the last I hear about this embarrassment.

It’s not just businesses large and small that are hurting from our current economic crisis. As people lose jobs, and others tighten their belts, charitable giving to religious institutions has also dropped precipitously. According to conservative Christian polling firm The Barna Group,  this drop in giving will “cripple thousands of smaller and less stable donor-supported organizations.” This shortfall in charitable giving is now hitting the Pagan-friendly Unitarian-Universalists.

One of the largest congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association, First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, came up $185,000 short in its annual fundraising drive — and announced this past weekend that the church will simply shut down for the month of July. No services, no programs, and the staff will take a month-long unpaid leave. Meanwhile, the UUA itself is projecting a $1.8 million revenue drop in fiscal year 2010, which begins in July. That’s a 10 percent drop. The UUA has already implemented several cost-cutting measures in fiscal year 2009, but many more are expected in the 2010 budget the administration will present to the board in April.

Which raises the question, how will modern Paganism fare during this recession? In some ways little will change. “Paganism” isn’t a denomination or institution, and the several small individual faiths under that wide umbrella will most likely continue to perform their rites and worship their gods (and goddesses) as they did before. Collectively, you could say that we’re way ahead of many Christians regarding the “home church” movement. What’s less certain is how well the bigger pan-Pagan events and institutions that tend to bind us together culturally and socially will persevere over the next five to ten years.

Will our Pagan periodicals survive the current swarm of magazine deaths? Will the Pagan publishing industry reel from major chains like Borders going under? How will attendance fluctuate at the bigger festivals? Will we see some smaller ones close down or go on hiatus? Does Pagan Spirit Gathering’s recent move from Wisteria to Camp Zoe have anything to do with economics? While I doubt we’ll see insitutions like Starwood or PSG grind to a halt any time soon, we may see a general contraction as Pagans lose income or jobs. The common wisdom is that religion, like entertainment, is often recession-proof. But in today’s world, nothing involving money seems certain.

In the coming weeks I’ll be talking to some folks in the know, and taking the temperature of the Pagan economy to see how well we’ll collectively weather this storm. In the meantime, if  you have seen any signs of the recession hitting the Pagan community, feel free to share in the comments.

Head over to the religion journalism blog Get Religion to check out Terry Mattingly’s examination of a recent New York Times write-up on the few enduring lesbian separatist communities. Mattingly rightly asks, where’s the examination of their religion?

But here is the mystery, to me. While the story is saturated with religious images — the sisters in this secret, hidden, gated community live on streets named after goddesses, like Diana Drive — there is no specific content about organized religion. Are the sisters agnostics, pagans, a mixture of various liberal mainline faiths? Are they feminist Catholics? Are any of the sisters ordained? We are not told. They are driven by very religious motivations and they are practicing strict, strict, strict doctrinal separatism. But we do not know if these beliefs link to organized religion — other than faith in radical feminism and to the vows that define their corner of the sexual revolution.

These women have “community full moon circles”, but do they have a Goddess? The article never makes it explicit. I encourage my readers to read both the NYT article, and Mattingly’s post, and leave your two cents.

Comics news site Newsarama runs a joint interview with Jim Balent and Holly G. of Broadsword Comics, home of the “empowering” (and not safe for work) comic “Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose”. There they reveal that two real-life Pagans will be making apperances in upcoming issues of the comic, the first is reality television star and “danger artist” Tonya Kay, and the second is Pagan author Raven Grimassi.

The 9th anniversary issue will have the traditional third cover, the “Photo Cover”. It’s usually Holly dress or should I say in a state of “undressed”, as Tarot in a magickal setting. It also begins a new storyline that will extend over 4 issues. Several friends and readers will be drawn into the book and I am very pleased to announce that Tonya Kay, Actress, dancer and one of the stars on Stan Lee’s “Who wants to be a Superhero.” will make her first appearance in the Tarot comic. At the end of the series, Award winning author and teacher of Witchcraft, Raven Grimassi, will appear in issue #58.

This isn’t the first time that real-life Pagans have made appearances in Tarot’s chest-obsessed universe, Pagan author and television star Fiona Horne also appeared in an issue not too long ago. As for Raven’s appearance, one wonders how much input he got into his action’s there, and if he’ll get to fight evil human-hating demonic forces with his Witch-powers? Oh please, let there be an epic battle involving Raven’s Witch-powers! Later on in the interview Jim Balent explains why he likes including real-life Pagans in Tarot.

I like having Craft superstars, like Fiona, Raven Grimassi and Tonya Kay, involved in the books because they bring a lot of personal knowledge about their own path in the Craft. I’ve always said that my goal in creating Tarot was to educate and entertain. And they are a big part of both.

So there you go, a Craft education, supernatural entertainment, and acres of (NSFW) flesh! How could you go wrong? Let’s hope that more Craft elders and teachers make appearances. Maybe Raymond Buckland? Or Laurie Cabot? Imagine the possibilities! Also, be sure you don’t miss out on Broadsword’s line of magic candles!

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

An advice column for the Washington Times highlights the struggles of a Wiccan military family after the children are outed at their local school.

…my children are being discriminated against by their teachers and administrators because we are Wiccans. It all started when other children at their school found out we are Wiccan. The students now call my children witches and warlocks. I know my children are being harassed, and this is not fair to them. Their grades are now falling tremendously. I have complained about this to the teachers, counselors, assistant principal and the principal. They have done nothing about it. I wanted to use this experience as a learning tool, to teach others about our lifestyle without imposing our views on others. It was my desire to stay calm and educate only to stop the fear and harassment. I asked to do a professional development session for the staff and a presentation to my children’s classrooms. I know this would help others understand, so they would stop judging and name-calling. The teachers would not hear of this. They all said it would infringe upon the rights of other students who do not want to hear about Wiccans.

The columnist “Ms. Vicki” Johnson advises the mother to climb higher on the administrative ladder with her concerns, and to seek counselling in order to deal with the emotional stress, but I fear that this is a far deeper problem than a few uncaring teachers. The military culture has become downright hostile to non-Christian faith expressions, often exploiting loopholes to keep Pagans (and other faiths) from gaining legitmacy and equal treatment. It wasn’t simply because of Bush that the veteran Pentacle quest took so long to achieve victory. I don’t know if there’s an easy solution to this problem, but one can hope that things will open up a bit under the Obama administration.

Darin Najor, who assulted a teacher and threatened to set her on fire for being a “witch” after she assigned the class to read “The Crucible”, is undergroing a competency hearing to see if he can stand trial.

Police said the assignment to read and discuss “The Crucible” apparently set Najor off. The teacher had been discussing the play in class for a while before she was assaulted. Najor questioned the teacher the day before the assault, police said, and she told him she didn’t believe in witchcraft and that the play was an allegory about persecution. The following day, Najor came up behind the teacher chanting what sounded like religious verses and poured water over her that he carried in a Gatorade bottle, Denmark said. Najor was also carrying a large barbecue lighter and told the teacher she was a witch who needed to be purified, police said. Najor ran from the room and the teacher and a security guard followed him outside where he was smoking a cigarette, Denmark said. The suspect ran at the teacher and said he was going to “burn the witch” when he was restrained by the guard, police said.

While Najor certainly seems delusional, one wonders where he got the idea that a witch needed to be purified by fire? It’s too bad this account doesn’t dig a bit into his background. What’s his home life like? What religious instruction did he receive? I would like to know these things, just in case the water-bottle was simply a trial run.

Speaking of innocent teachers and witches, a Texas man has finally been cleared of all charges after being accused of confining two girls to a classroom because he thought they were witches.

It has not been an easy three years for Jose Ramos. The 45-year-old Spanish teacher has been unemployed and under a felony indictment for most of that time, chafing against what he saw as an ongoing injustice he could not seem to clear. Some days, it was hard to tell what was worse: That he was being accused of confining two scared teenage girls to a classroom, or that the Rio Grande Valley thought he’d done it because he thought the girls were witches. On Thursday, prosecutors dropped the last of his criminal charges and, with an apologetic shrug from a county court-at-law judge whose children had been his students, Ramos was once again free, innocent and employable.

In the span of three years the truth slowly came out, the girl’s stories changed, and they no longer wanted to testify. In fact, it seems that it was Ramos who was trying to protect the girls from fellow classmates who accused the girls of casting malicious spells. The tragedy is that this man’s life and livelyhood were ruined while under the shadow of these charges. Resentful, he’s now looking for a job far away from the town in which he once worked.

The Independent gives a decidedly lukewarm review to Gary Lachman’s new book “Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen”, calling it “stodgy” and “uncontroversial”.

Gary Lachman has certainly done his research. This history of how the occult has influenced national politics – and not just wacky, fascist politics but mainstream and progressive political movements too … It could be fascinating, but the prose is stodgy, and the actual aims of these secret societies, where revealed, are often uncontroversial and bland – to create a better world, that sort of thing. It’s never entirely clear whether Lachman believes that occult study is a real means of acquiring knowledge, providing an alternative to “the hard-nosed empirical approach [of] science”. This book offers no evidence that it is; but then doubts are raised about Lachman’s commitment to rationality when he claims that “in 1960, aliens took an interest in US politics and backed a candidate for the presidency”.

For more on Lachman’s work (which tends toward the sensationalistic), you should check out this (slightly edited) excerpt from “Politics and the Occult”.

How did ancient Greeks choose their temple locations? According to Gregory J. Retallack of the University of Oregon in Eugene, it’s all about the soil.

No clear pattern emerged until he turned to the gods and goddesses. It was then that he discovered a robust link between the soil on which a temple stood and the deity worshiped there. For example, Demeter, the goddess of grain and fertility, and Dionysos, the god of wine, both were venerated on fertile, well-structured soils called Xerolls, which are ideal for grain cultivation. Artemis, the virgin huntress, and her brother Apollo, the god of light and the Sun, were worshiped in rocky Orthent and Xerept soils suitable only for nomadic herding. And maritime deities, such as Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Poseidon, the sea god, were revered on Calcid soils on coastal terraces too dry for agriculture. The pattern suggests that the deities’ cults were based on livelihood as much as on religion. And, says Retallack, temple builders may have chosen sites to make the deities feel at home.

So if you’re looking to build a new Pagan temple, better check out the local dirt first.

In a final note, mega-rockstars U2 may be dedicated Christians, but that hasn’t stopped them from wondering if the patriarchy is all its cracked up to be.

“[The song "Get On Your Boots" is] based around the idea that men have f****d things up so badly, politically, economically and socially that it’s really time we handed things over to women.”

You can see the video for the song, here. Careful guys, you keep this sort of sentiment up, and you might lose some of your ardent patriarchy-loving Christian followers (but who knows, you might also gain some goddess-lovers to replace them).

That’s all I have for now, have a great day!