On this Mother’s Day let’s not forget the mother(s) of us all.

Tellus Mater, from the Ara Pacis Augustae.

“Different countries celebrate Mother’s Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins. One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March. The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.” – Wikipedia

Here in the United States, Mother’s Day was conceived by poet and social activist Julia Ward Howe. Her “Mother’s Day Proclamation” was a pacifist reaction to the Civil and Franco-Prussian wars. In it, Howe urges all women from around the world to meet and settle the differences of the world.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

For me, I think both themes are worthy to be celebrated this day. Have a happy and joy-filled Mother’s Day. Honor the mothers in your life, divine and mundane. Perhaps we can start working on that worldwide congress of women too.

Fearing that Siberian Shamanism is endangered due to a lack of a spokesperson and visibility, Shonchulai Khovyenmei of the Akh Khaskha tribe in Tuva has organized a controversial Internet voting process to elect a “Supreme Shaman”.

“The organizers of the Internet vote say a top shaman would serve in a similar way to the Orthodox Patriarch or Supreme Mufti and help raise the profile of Russia’s ethnic tribes after their wretched treatment at the hands of the Soviet authorities … Over 230 shamans from Russia’s 11 time zones are competing for the top spot, which will be decided by November. Nominations closed last Friday.”

If you’re thinking this process is very unpopular among some within the Siberian tribes, you’d be right.

“Shamanism is not a religion, it’s a unique phenomenon. To unite us would be very difficult,” said Akai Kynov, a shaman in the Altai Republic, some 3,000 km (1,900 miles) east of Moscow. Kynov, 45, performs rituals in the Altai mountains clad in white and crowned by an immense snow lynx fur hat. He has chaired an informal group of local shamans for a decade and says choosing a supreme shaman could create chaos. “Everyone will not start beating their drums with joy if they elect a chief,” he told Reuters. “The majority will probably slam their fists on the table in protest.”

The Reuters article also interviews Rimma Yerkinova of the Altai republic’s state museum who calls the idea “delirium”, and American-born shaman Jonathan Horwitz (who works in Denmark) who calls the election a “bureaucratic nightmare”. One has to wonder how much authority or sway this Internet-elected “Supreme Shaman” will really have, or what good he or she can do to advance solutions to the problems facing tribal peoples in Russia. Will the other 229 shamans in the running even acknowledge their newly elected “Patriarch/Mufti”?

This whole situation reminds me very much of the 2008 “election” of Max Beauvoir as Haiti’s “Supreme Master” of Haitian Vodou. While the “Supreme Master” has caused controversy among some practitioners in Haiti who have no desire for a “first among equals” representing them, at least Beauvoir and his supporters’ attempts to develop a Vodou hierarchy are happening within a small and distinct geographical area, this shamanism election covers a number of culturally distinct tribes and huge swathes of geography making any real sense of unity and common purpose difficult. Mix in the very personal and interconnected nature of a shaman with his people, and you have a receipe for division and controversy before you’ve even “promoted” a shaman to “Supreme” status. This very much seems like a noble idea gone wrong. After all, who is ready to acknowledge a Supreme Shaman?

ADDENDUM: Additional article on the election from Radio Free Europe.

After spotlighting three news items yesterday, I find that I have another three to share with you today. First up, we have a profile of the Denver Catholic Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. Chaput is receipient of this year’s Canterbury Medal, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s highest honor. But while Chaput thinks that the United States is “a nation that only really makes sense in a religion-friendly context”, it is clear from his acceptance speech that he doesn’t mean friendly towards all religions.

The archbishop said “the bedrock” of our common moral heritage was the First Commandment, “I am the Lord your God; you will not have foreign gods before me.” “All of our Western beliefs about the sanctity of life, human dignity and human rights ultimately depend on a Creator who guarantees them. In other words, we have infinite value because God made us. No human being or political authority can revoke that infinite value. Only God is God.” Any other pretention to answering human suffering and hope is “finally an impostor and a road away from God’s light.” Archbishop Chaput said this view of the value of human life was in direct contrast to a contemporary American spirit in which science can “comfortably” coexist alongside “superstition or barbarism.” As the Western moral consensus weakened alongside the progress of science, people did not become more ethically mature. “The 20th century was the bloodiest in history, and today the occult is flourishing right alongside our computers and Blackberries,” he said.

It seems somewhat strange that a group fighting for the rights of Santeros to perform animal sacrifice would give their “highest honor” to a man who most likely thinks “occult” religions don’t merit the same freedoms and considerations as the dominant “world religions”. Indeed, in his comments he seems to hint that “occult” beliefs are the enemy of religious freedom and liberty. An odd attitude for someone who once served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. I guess it just goes to show you how elastic terms like “religious freedom” and “religious liberty” are.

We turn from religious freedom honours, to the potential honour of becoming one of the most powerful judges in the United States. With the pending retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, speculation has been rampant as to who President Obama will name to replace him.  One name being bandied about is U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor. While not officially named as a possible appointee, conservatives are already scouring through her decisions (and the decisions of other possible candidates) looking for enough controversy to mount an effective grass-roots challenge. One of the possible talking points should she be appointed is that she is against distinctions being made between faiths in court decisions concerning religion.

In 1994, Judge Sotomayor ruled in favor of two prisoners who claimed to practice Santeria, a Caribbean religion that involves animal sacrifice and voodoo, saying that “distinctions between ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ religions” are “intolerable.”

Frankly, this just makes her seem more appealing to advocates of true religious equality. It is also a stance taken by the Supreme Court (including Antonin Scalia), who saw no distinction between the religious rights of Santeria practitioners and adherents of more “mainstream” faiths. In fact, the (in)famous case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah was decided by the Supreme Court in 1993, one year before her 1994 decision. Sotomayor most likely looked to this decision as a guidance on her ruling. I can’t imagine this decision would gain any real traction in the controversy department, but then certain groups are big fans of what I like to call the “Witch Gambit”. Using someone’s non-traditional religion as a basis to deny them custody, convict them of crimes, or discredit them as a witness.

In a final note, the San Francisco Chronicle puts the spotlight on journalist and fellow Pagan blogger Victoria Slind-Flor who is being honored as the “Keeper of Light” at this year’s 8th Annual Pagan Festival & Pride Parade in Berkeley.

“Slind-Flor is a practical witch, grounded in the real world. She worked as an editor and reporter for newspapers in Seattle, New Orleans and Los Angeles before becoming an online business reporter in San Francisco, specializing in copyright law, a field they don’t teach at Hogwarts. When wearing her other hat – the pointed one – she teaches workshops, gives tarot readings, and hangs with the coven. Being Keeper of the Light is the best thing that could happen to a witch, Slind-Flor said, and she will try to be worthy of the honor when the parade rolls through Civic Center Park. She is practicing what she calls her Queen Victoria wave, and she is very glad to be riding in a float, as her legs don’t work as well as they used to and the broom thing cannot be counted on. “I’m probably a symbol of the graying of our community,” she said.”

Congratulation to Victoria on this honor. The festival is tomorrow (Saturday) if you happen to be near Berkeley. Also, if you’re curious, last year’s “Keeper of the Light” honoree was Max Dashu of the Suppressed Histories Archives.

John Morehead’s Theofantastique blog (one of the best blogs out there concerning the intersections of religion, film, and horror) interviews Carrol L. Fry, author of “Cinema of the Occult: New Age, Satanism, Wicca, and Spiritualism in Film”, about her new book and how the “occult” (both faiths and practice) are portrayed in cinema.

“Movies about the occult are, well, movies after all and are made for profit not education. The occult is by its nature sensational and sensationalism sells. Filmmakers have target audiences, but they want to reach a broad spectrum of customers. And you have to remember that a lot of films that adapt occult paths are part of the horror genre, and that audience demands sensationalism. So even those Wiccan films that give a favorable spin to the Old Religion might well offend not only Wiccans but conservative Christians, the former because they don’t accurately reflect their beliefs and practices and the latter because they are made at all. I think the one Neo-Pagan film that most Pagans I’ve met would, and do, enjoy is The Wicker Man. This is ironic because director­­­ Robin Hardy and script writer Anthony Shaffer intended it to be a warning against occult practices as leading to cults. As I say in my book, those Wiccan films that reflect negatively on the Old Religion, B movies such as Silent Night Deadly Night IV: the Initiation or Suspiria are unrelentingly sexist and even misogynist and reflect on the challenge to male authority that feminist Wicca presents for some people.”

I recommend reading the whole thing, though I disagree with her analysis of “The Wicker Man”. From the interviews I’ve read, it always seemed to be more a cautionary tale concerning religious extremism from all angles than simply a warning against occultism in particular. While you’re there, you might also want to read Morehead’s post on geeks inherting the earth.

Slate.com explains the six types of white supremacist groups outlined by the Department of Homeland Security report, titled “Domestic Extremism Lexicon“. One of those six types is “Nordic mysticism” and they manage to give a summary while generally avoiding tarring all modern Norse and Germanic-based Pagan groups with a racist brush.

“Neo-Nordic paganism appeared in the United States in the 1970s and ’80s as part of a larger trend of pagan religions, like Wicca and Druidism. The racist offshoot of this religious movement is referred to as either Odinism or Wotanism—Odin and Wotan being different names for the chief Norse god. (David Lane, a leading white nationalist, preferred Wotanism because it contained the acronym WOTAN, or “Will of the Aryan Nation.”) White supremacists were drawn to the faith both because it represents an “authentically” white religion—as opposed to Christianity, which has its roots in the Middle East—and because of its emphasis on warrior culture.”

While the terminology is a bit off at times, Nina Shen Rastogi seems to have avoided the blanket statements (particularly concerning Pagan iconography and symbols) that have spurred Pagan criticism of some anti-defamation groups in the past. You can read more about this report at The Daily Beast.

In a final note, the St. Petersburg Times’ Andrew Meacham provides a moving obiturary for Lady Urania (aka Lois Ann Paris), a local Pagan community leader and part-owner of the Stone Circle Products in Florida.

“Before she became Lady Urania, Ms. Paris was a Catholic Sunday school teacher who worked for a Baltimore phone company. But she found the religion too authoritarian and began to study Wicca, or witchcraft. Ms. Paris was a short woman with a full voice, especially when delivering her opinion, which she did freely. A redhead with an attitude, her daughter-in-law said. After moving to Port Richey in 1991 with her husband, George, she blended in quickly with local Wiccans, the women and men who practice what they call an earth religion. The Wiccans say they keep a low profile because they fear discrimination and harassment. Lady Urania became part owner of the Stone Circle, a retail store where she sold books, crystals and candles and gave tarot readings.”

Lady Urania was 74. You can also read an announcement of her passing at Witchvox. May she rest in the Summerlands and return to us once again.

Cat Chapin-Bishop at Quaker Pagan Reflections has posted a very brave personal essay exploring the need for, and hierarchy created by, fame in the Pagan community. In the process she outs her own cravings for Pagan-world fame, and how this fame-centered economy sometimes brings out the worst in those who would be our leaders and teachers.

“…there’s also something that’s a little off in my craving for fame through writing. I can joke about it, but I know it’s there. When my friend K. is talking about his latest writing project, or the interaction with the organizers at a festival where he’s presenting, I think, “I want that!” I don’t just want to write for the sake of the writing, or publish for the sake of communicating with an audience. I’m attracted to the shallow, superficial aspects of it, too. I want the sense of being Important, and having people act like they agree with me. It’s very adolescent, really. And it’s also very, very Pagan … it’s a way of life in the Pagan world. In the Pagan world, all too often, you can tell exactly who the Big Name Pagans are by how they walk into a room. And those of us with friends who are Big Name Pagans–or even passing acquaintances who are Big Name Pagans–are under a constant temptation to puff ourselves, at least a little, by name dropping.”

While I’m certainly no Starhawk, Margot Adler, or Thorn Coyle, I have spent quite a bit of time processing my own small piece of Pagan notoriety. I too have felt the pressure to publish that book, the book that would cement my name and place in Pagan history, and I was more than a little pleased when I started getting offers to speak at festivals and public events. But at the same time I, like Cat, have felt deeply ambivalent concerning the way our communities measure what she (and the Quakers) call “weight” (which I gather is akin to spiritual authority). I have also realized that I may never write that book, or if I do, it won’t be anytime soon, or in a form that will garner me the kind of Pagan-fame that gets people to name-drop you in occult stores. I realized that what I am is a new-media journalist and commentator, and that for me to be truly effective at what I do I can never aspire to be part of the unspoken Pagan hierarchy Cat describes, a pecking order that can value sales and volume over truth or accuracy.

I urge all my readers to read her post, and tell me what you see when you look at our “leaders” and “teachers”. Are our brightest lights there on merit? Or are they simply the ones with the best representation and publishing contracts? Have you felt the urge to “publish that book”? Have you ever found yourself name-dropping some BNP (big-name Pagan) at an event or shop? What do you think about Pagan fame?

It looks like the Obama administration really will be taking a different direction than the Bush administration in handling this year’s National Day of Prayer (held on the first Thursday of May every year). Officials have stated that Obama will release a proclamation this Thursday, but won’t be hosting a ceremony.

“The Obama administration says it will issue a proclamation marking the National Day of Prayer on Thursday (May 7), but appears to be moving away from the White House ceremonies hosted by former President George W. Bush. “President Obama is a committed Christian and believes that we should be engaging Americans of faith in efforts to renew our country,” a White House official said.”

Prominent conservative Christians (most notably National Day of Prayer Task Force head Shirley Dobson) who have greatly benefited from White House photo-ops in years past have already arranged independent events while insinuating that Obama isn’t properly committed to Sparkle Motion prayer.

“We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration,” Shirley Dobson said in a statement issued by the task force on Monday. “At this time in our country’s history, we would hope our president would recognize more fully the importance of prayer.”

This shift will certainly make it harder for the Dobson-backed National Day of Prayer Task Force to present itself as the official White House-backed organizer of this annual event and attack politicians who don’t fall into line with their goals and values. One hopes this will lead to a nationwide call to prayer that is inclusive of all faiths, instead of empowering and enriching an organization that purposely excludes other religions. Will Obama’s proclamation include overtures to non-Christian faiths? Considering Obama’s nods to Hindus and Buddhists in past speeches, and the inclusion of yoga at the White House Easter event, I’m hopeful. But we’ll have to wait for Thursday and see.

As regular readers of my blog know, I like to keep track of what George Barna and his conservative Christian marketing and polling firm The Barna Group get up to. While I often suspect some ideological bias in their data collection, Barna has provided some interesting food for thought concerning interactions between Pagan faiths and Christianity over the years. Now George Barna has authored a new book entitled “The Seven Faith Tribes” that claims to hold the key to restoring America’s strength and stability in these trying times.

Citing his research, Barna indicated that the United States has seven dominant faith tribes that hold the key to the restoration of the nation. “We must recover the values that made this nation great and that must be firmly in place for order, reason, freedom and unity to prevail,” the researcher explained. “Our faith tribes are central to the development and application of people’s worldviews, which in turn produce the values on which we base our daily decisions. It is on the basis of such values that a nation rises to greatness or plummets to oblivion. The choice is ours. And it is up to our faith tribes to demonstrate the courageous leadership necessary to facilitate a national restoration of the mind, heart and soul. Without a nationwide commitment to this process, we are destined to become a country of historical significance and present-day insignificance.”

So what are the seven “faith tribes” that Barna describes?

“Casual Christians – 66% of the adult population, Captive Christians – 16% of the adult population, Jews – 2% of the adult population, Mormons – 2% of the adult population, Pantheists – 2% of the adult population, Muslims – one-half of 1% of the adult population, Skeptics – 11% of the adult population”

If you guessed that Pagans are probably filed under “Pantheists” (along with, I’m assuming, Buddhists, New Agers, and “Spiritual But Not Religious” types) you’re probably correct. But how can tribes with such extreme differences of opinion and theology as these renew America together? Barna has identified twenty values that all the “tribes” share, which they can use to form a new moral leadership that will help America thrive.

“In The Seven Faith Tribes, I examined interviews we have conducted with more than 30,000 Americans to better understand our worldviews, moral perspectives, spiritual foundations, lifestyle expectations, family behaviors and core values. The result is an understanding that the United States is home to seven dominant faith tribes, each of which has a divergent worldview – but all of which embrace twenty shared values that help to define their heart, mind and soul and have historically permitted the U.S. to thrive. It is my belief that if we were to refocus on the central values that made America great – and on which a formidable culture can truly be based – then our country can get back on the path of unity and progress. If we continue to focus on the attitudes, expectations and customs that divide us, then we are doomed to self-destruct, leaving behind a legacy as perhaps the most intriguing, longest-running experiments in democracy in world history.”

If I didn’t know better, I would almost think that Barna is proposing an end to the culture wars, a “cease-fire” agreement between faith groups so that an interfaith coalition can re-ground the country for the common good. It sounds, almost, well, progressive in tone. I’m almost tempted to get a copy and read this tribal manifesto, could a prominent conservative Christian be calling for a new attitude in Christian-Pagan relations?