It looks like a split decision last night in the battle of the Pagan candidates, resulting in a historic win for Republican candidate Dan Halloran. In a very close race Halloran defeated his Democratic opponent by a margin of 1300 votes to become the next New York City Councilman for District 19. This is a dramatic win for the beleaguered Theodsman, and his victory represents a dramatic first for modern Paganism, the first openly Pagan/Heathen candidate to gain an important political office. We await an official statement from Halloran, in the meantime, you can read congratulations from his supporters, and commentary from a snarky but somewhat humbled Village Voice (not to mention a peeved-sounding Steven Thrasher).

“But there are some less expected results, and one involves one of the “Losers to Watch” we mentioned early today: Queens council candidate Daniel Halloran (pictured), the pagan/heathen Republican looking to succeed Tony Avella. He seems to have bested Democrat Kevin Kim, 53 to 47 percent. By Odin’s beard, his magic must be strong!”

Indeed, and I look forward to following councilman Halloran’s career with interest in the coming years. Sadly, it isn’t all good news on the Pagan candidate front. While Halloran pulled off a win, Democrat Alice Richmond failed to unseat incumbent Republican Robert Griffith in the race for a seat on Page County Virginia’s Board of Supervisors. Griffith won by a very large margin, and while the revelations about Richmond being “Lady Raya” couldn’t have helped, Virginia saw a wave of Republican victories last night, and that turn-out most likely made the contest into a total rout. On her blog, Richmond inferred that the county was suffering from “Stockholm Syndrome”, and gave the following statement.

“For those 546 people who came to the polls and voted for me, thank you. For those 47 people who contributed nearly $6,500 to my campaign, I did the best work I could do. The voters of District 1 made a clear choice. The vote was not close.”

So a somewhat bitter-sweet, yet ultimately historic night for Pagans participating in the political realm. Halloran’s win, and even Richmond’s high-profile candidacy and loss, have broken down barriers that will greatly benefit future Pagan adherents looking to get involved in the political process. It has proven that while no race in the near future will be easy for an “out” Pagan, in the right circumstances we can win.

Today is the day, elections are being held, and we’ll soon find out if two out/outed Pagan candidates will win their respective races. The higher-profile story, that of Republican New York City Council candidate, and Heathen Theodsman, Dan Halloran, has gotten a bit ugly in the final hours.

“Though he once wrote on his PaganSpace webpage that “Theodism regularly practices blood sacrifice,” Halloran told the paper that the ritual is similar to Jewish dietary laws. That riled up Kim supporters. “By comparing animal blood sacrifices with the Jewish dietary laws of keeping kosher, it’s no wonder that Dan Halloran’s religion is supported by neo-Nazis and white supremacists,” Michael Dovid Sais, a Jewish Kim backer told the Daily News.”

Looks like the Village Voice piece conflating racist Heathens in prison with Halloran’s campaign has been somewhat successful in putting Halloran, once again, on the defensive when it comes to his faith. He’s now dealing with protesters outside Republican headquarters accusing him of anti-Semitism, some who are directly quoting the Village Voice article. As for the Village Voice, they defend their original piece, saying that they made it clear Halloran wasn’t a racist, even if large parts of the article happened to be about racist Heathens.

“We did point out that there’s an alarming trend in the country’s prisons of white supremacists adopting neo-heathenism for their white nationalist agendas. Experts tell us that as much as 50 percent of the country’s tiny neo-heathenist movement has connections to white supremacy. But we also made it clear, several times, that we found no tie between Halloran’s New Normandy and those white supremacist groups. Yes, Halloran seems to have found some fans at the white nationalist forum Stormfront, but that’s something he can hardly control.”

Meanwhile, both Halloran’s and Democrat Kevin Kim’s camps have been accusing the other of harassment and sabotage. All of which makes me think this is going to be a close one. But while Halloran’s story has gotten most of the attention from the press, Pagan or otherwise, he isn’t the only Pagan on the ballot this election day. Alice Richmond, who is the Democratic candidate for District 1 Supervisor in Page County, Virginia, is facing Republican Robert Griffith in a race that has seen Richmond’s religion used as a weapon against her.

“On September 18th the conservative talk-show SpeakOut interviewed Alice Richmond, Democratic candidate for District 1 Supervisor in Page County, Virginia. During the program a “Jim Logan” called and asked Richmond if she was “Lady Raya”, author of two books on Wicca. Richmond repeatedly denied the allegation on the air, causing her to backtrack later when a local television channel followed up on the story .. While her outing as a Wiccan may be damaging to the campaign, it is also very likely that opponents may have over-stepped in their out-the-Witch campaign, bringing her more free publicity and new supporters than she may have otherwise gotten. Meanwhile, a commenter on Richmond’s blog points out that accusations of a set-up by the hosts of SpeakOut were all but confirmed on the program’s next episode.“

So we have two Pagan candidates, both of whom are trying to move past the public revelations that they belong to minority faiths in a country where being Christian seems to be almost a prerequisite for gaining political power. If you’re not, then you have to endure increased scrutiny, and often, insinuations of anti-Americanism. It isn’t pretty, but perhaps Wilfred M. McClay, a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is right when he says that “it’s something that these neo-pagans have to go through”. See you all tomorrow for the results.

ADDENDUM: Halloran wins, Richmond loses, more on both of these races early tomorrow morning!

While Samhain and Halloween are holidays that honour those that have passed, a time when the veils between the seen and unseen are thin, it is also, it seems, an increasingly popular time for some to get married. For some it’s just a laugh, something to break with the traditional expectations of marriage, for others it’s an extension of a lifelong love of spooky things. Getting married on Halloween may even be a long-held family tradition. But increasingly, it is a time for modern Pagans to tie the knot on one of their most sacred days. Such is the case of Dave Dominic and Maggie Venables, who were wed in Sherwood Forest by High Priestess Beccie Morris.

“Marrying in Sherwood Forest, they observed traditions which would have been a feature of Pagan weddings thousands of years ago – including stepping over a broomstick and having their hands tied together with ribbons. Pagans like Dave and Maggie call Halloween Samhain or Samhein, pronounced Sah-Ween … “It was very poignant to us. With us both being in our fifties we have lost a few people and it’s nice to be able to celebrate with our lost ones.” Maggie said: “It was magical and fantastic. Everybody had a wonderful time. It’s so appropriate and so real, and it feels so good.” Dave, 53, has been Pagan since he was a teenager, while Maggie, 52, has been moving towards Paganism over the last few years.”

While some might have qualms about getting married during Samhain, for Dave and Maggie it accentuated their faith and their connection to those who have passed, making for a poignant ceremony. While Dave and Maggie’s ceremony seemed rather solemn and understated, that didn’t seem to be the case of Daniel Shank and Christina Dorffner, a couple in Maryland who went all-out in merging Halloween and Samhain into their interfaith nuptials.

“But perhaps the wind was meant to blow when the auburn-haired bride made her entrance, veil flying, long silk gown glinting with 1,500 garnet and citrine jewels, escorted by her father and the otherworldly strains of the theme from “Edward Scissorhands.” The black-robed high priest and priestess presiding over this sacred rite would call forth the wind, along with water, earth and fire, to consecrate the vows exchanged Saturday by Christina Dorffner and Daniel Shank, one self-described Catholic witch and one pagan.”

The Catholic witch and Pagan were not only decked out in costumes, along with all the other guests, but were married by Pagan lottery winner Ellwood “Bunky” Bartlett (a friend of the couple who made the elaborate wedding fiscally possible) and were entertained at the reception by legendary horror-movie host Count Gore de Vol (aka Dick Dyszel). All of which makes me wonder if this is the start of some larger trend? Is Samhain for lovers? Considering the high-stakes world of weddings will anyone be able to top getting married by a Wiccan millionaire? I suppose we’ll have to see next year if this is truly a growing phenomenon, or if this was simply an unusually love-filled year.

While some Pagans have yet to perform their rites,and our friends in the Southern hemisphere are just wrapping up Beltane, a good number most likely performed some sort Samhain ritual observance last night (including Reclaiming’s annual Spiral Dance). Naturally, once Halloween is past, the flood of press interest in Pagans and their seasonal observances slows down to a mere trickle, so we get very little in the way of post-mortem or after-the-fact reflection. The best we can hope for (from the mainstream media at any rate) are the yearly accounts-taking of that New England-style Mardi Gras that is Salem’s Halloween celebrations.

“Vampires sporting sunglasses, whimsical wizards, and at least one Teletubby roamed the streets of the Witch City yesterday, reveling in a magical brew of warm weather and witchery. Salem police estimated about 80,000 revelers converged on a city where the population is about 41,000. With the temperatures rising over 70 degrees and Halloween falling on a Saturday for the first time since 1998, police brought in reinforcements to ensure public safety.”

It seems that the recession didn’t hit Salem’s October tourist trade this year thanks to warm weather and Halloween falling on a Saturday. Some estimate that close to 100,000 people mobbed the city of 41,000. Sadly there is no word on how well the various Pagan and Pagan-run events did this year, though I suppose, given the numbers, the answer to that question is “very well”. It no doubt makes the Witch School folks happy about their impending move. I was somewhat taken aback to see almost no mention of the Salem Witches in the various Salem-themed pre-and-post event articles this year, but perhaps they are simply taken as a given now. It’s Salem after all, there will be Witches there.

As for myself, I’ll be celebrating the “true” Samhain in Florida this year at the Florida Pagan Gathering, where I’ll be giving some talks and no doubt meeting all sorts of wonderful folks. If you’re in the Florida area I hope to see you there! Meanwhile, if any of my loyal readership spots any post-mortem looks at Samhain rituals (or Beltane rituals if your Australian) in the press, please share the link in the comments sections.