“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” - Thucydides
We here at The Wild Hunt give honor to all our Pagan brothers and sisters who have served, are serving, and have fallen in the line of duty.
“It should be the simplest thing in the world for us to do: to take all our clothes off to soak up the sun or skinny dip, and yet it is such a fraught activity for so many people. This started to intrigue me about ten years ago when I was hiking on a hot day and stopped to rest. No-one was around, and I was so hot that I took my clothes off to cool down and enjoy the breeze. As I did this, I wondered whether I was breaking the law, and was suddenly hit by the oddity of the idea that I could somehow be committing a crime simply by being myself. Could I only legally exist in public if I was covered? Thoreau talks about this same issue when he notes in his “Journals”: “What a singular fact for an angel visitant to this earth to carry back in his note-book, that men were forbidden to expose their bodies under the severest penalties!” I began researching the taboo against nakedness, and discovered an extraordinarily rich vein of material that I have been mining ever since.”
“Carr-Gomm is a hippy who, rather than growing up and outgrowing the 60s, has discarded his tie-dyed garments and cantered off to worship orgiastic pagan deities … Cheerfully indiscriminate, Carr-Gomm’s “Brief History” romps through religion, politics and aesthetics. At times he is woozily mystical – he seems to take seriously the fertility rites performed by adherents of Wicca…”
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as up to the occasional round of Baby-Boomer backlash as the next disgruntled Gen-Xer, but I try to keep tabs on when my personal biases are influencing the way I encounter something I’m supposed to objectively review or report on. That fact that Conrad’s review boils down to a giant “TMI” screed undercuts some of his more serious critiques of the larger work. It makes him seem more prudish than anything else.
In any case, the book may be worth a look, especially if you attend clothing-optional events or participate in a “skyclad” tradition. You can find more information, including more reviews and an excerpt, at Philip Carr-Gomm’s web site.
“Mr. Amenábar, working from an insightful script that he wrote with Mateo Gil, focuses on two moments when the ancient culture war reached a fever pitch and shows that no group is entirely innocent of violence and intolerance. Whoever is in power tries to preserve it by fair means or foul, and whoever wants power uses brutality to acquire it. So in the first half of the film the insurgent Christian mob draws pagan blood, and the beleaguered pagan elite, including Theon and Orestes, meets the threat with savagery.”
“Cliff Eakin, owner of Gryphon’s Nest campground on Bull Run Road, said he expected the bulk of the weekend’s participants to arrive today. Eakin said he had one instance of vandalism by teenagers on the campground’s sign, so he hired security personnel to protect participants in the weekend celebration … The event that started Friday night was scheduled to run through Monday. Perry Rushing, chief of operations of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, said he had met with Eakin, the operator of the campground, and was assured that the event would consist of people practicing their religion and would not involve anything illegal. “We have no interest in that,” Rushing said.”
Rushing, who initially said he “vehemently opposed” a Pagan festival in his Parish, now says he doesn’t expect any problems. Let’s hope he’s right, and the locals realize that the world didn’t end simply because a bunch of Pagans decided to congregate in their Parish for a weekend of camping and celebrating.
“My first subject of study is Alternative Right, a particularly noxious website that brands itself as “radical traditionalist.” For those who aren’t familiar with the term, radical traditionalist is a term used by hipsters, goths and faux-erudite who espouse fascist ideology but want a term with more intellectual cache. Radical traditionalist favorites include Oswald Spengler, Julius Evola and Alain de Benoist. Associated (allegedly) political movements include Eurasianism, metapolitics, third positionism and national anarchism. Alternative right is an exemplar of radical traditionalism and fascism in as much as it begins with hatred of minorities, women and the working class and proceeds to construct a bizarre mish-mash of gobbledygook as “ideology” after the fact.”
My readers may remember my own foray into the world of Alternative Right when I covered their interview with Asatru leader Stephen McNallen (here’s McNallen’s response to that article). There definitely seems to be some nasty elements hiding within some of the rhetoric at Alternative Right, especially their sympathetic coverage of the National Anarchists, who really do seem to be neo-fascist in orientation. I do think one can be a radical traditionalist (at least as some people define it) without being a racist or a crypto-fascist, but you certainly can’t do it while tolerating and including those elements in your “big tent”.
“One interview illustrated the difficulties faced by non-Christians quite clearly. Rev. Billy Baughaum of the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers, a retired military chaplain, verbally and physically expressed absolute disgust and revulsion for the Wiccan faith, openly mocking it. At one point in his interview, he said, “I think the Wicca religion is repulsive, however if there’s a Wicca [sic] chaplain who comes, I will swallow my grimace, but I believe the first amendment, he has a right or she has a right to pray to the horned god of the north. … Although I think it’s a bunch of baloney personally … if that’s what they want to pray to I will put on my greens again and get in a foxhole and I’ll support their right to do that.” A statement that he believes in first amendment rights is not a commitment to neutrality in actually helping servicemembers in need of spiritual counsel. How genuinely can someone serve another spiritually when they are attempting to “swallow my grimace” and disguise hatred and contempt for the person seeking help? I cannot imagine feeling comfortable in the office of a chaplain who openly and publicly states that other religions are false and that they find them repulsive; that hatred cannot help but transfer over to the individual practicing the hated faith.”
The whole thing is very much worth reading, and I encourage you to do so. As we enter Memorial Day weekend, being aware of what our Pagan military personnel (past and present) have to deal with on an ongoing basis is vitally important.
“Here is what I do know: For twenty-five years, I have been a Pagan, and for all of those years, I have felt that I am weaving something, a kind of cloth or tapestry, together with my friends. Paganism is so new, and, when it is working well, so warming and so full of hospitality, that for me at least, the heart of my experience as a Pagan has been the weaving together all of our separate lives to form one fabric, one community honoring the earth and the old gods. I’ve never cared particularly who called himself a shaman, who a Witch or a Hellene or a Druid, because I have felt it in my bones how much we are woven together as kin. Believe it or not, today is the first day I have properly understood: the whole time I have been weaving, weaving my life and the lives of those I love into this fabric, time has been unweaving it again at the other end. Alexei has died. And part of the world is gone.”
For those who can make it, the wake will be Tuesday, 1st of June, from 2pm-5pm and from 7pm-10pm at Gleason Funeral Home 149-20 Northern Blvd, Flushing, 11358. The funeral, Wednesday, 2nd of June, 10:45am, St Andrew Avellino 158th Street and Northern Blvd, Flushing.
“For those of us who speak only English, the treasure-trove of the Celtic consciousness is still behind a locked door. But the key to unlock the door is there, within our grasp. Anyone of us can, at any moment, decide to fit the key to the lock and be on the other side.”
“The battle is not over yet. The six Celtic languages are still alive, if not well. In them are stored, as on a disk, several millennia of a people’s unique experience, waiting to be given a new dynamic expression by that generation who will dare to break the colonial shackles of fear and self-doubt. Now more than ever do we need the devil-may-care valour of the Celtic warrior. Now more than ever do we need the druidic clarity of vision, the bardic ability to draw resources from the unlimited potential of the Otherworld. We must, as they did, have the imagination to give flesh to life-giving myth, and the will to work its pattern into our existence. Time is indeed short. Everyone of us who has felt the beauty of the Celtic world-vision must act, each in our individual ways, now, before it is too late. Gwnewch rywbeth!! Do something!!”
All honor to Alexei Kondratiev, may his journey to the Otherworld reunite him with his ancestors, and provide him communion with his gods. My deepest condolences to his partner, Len, his family, friends, and co-religionists.
“Christensen told the cops he had tried to make things work with Harlan, but she had broken a promise. He wouldn’t tolerate her communicating with another man, not after she took a “blood oath.” “I’m not a Christian. I’m a Wiccan and that would be like asking me to become (a Christian). I’m 100 percent totally for Chevys. It would be like asking me to love Fords,” Christensen told the detectives. Christensen described the oath that he and Harlan took at her apartment in mid-December. He laughed at detectives as they tried to understand the different elements of the ceremony. Christensen said Harlan vowed to stop seeing and taking gifts from the man. He explained that he wanted to salvage the relationship and the oath meant Harlan did too, he said. Christensen recounted the morning he found out that Harlan continued to communicate with the other man. He told detectives he discovered the text messages on Harlan’s phone while she was in the shower. He said he was “biting-nails mad, but I know how to control my anger. I know if it goes a little too far. I know exactly what my potentials are without even doing it.” He told police he and Harlan had sex and then he confronted her about the messages. They got into a shoving match. He called her names and then left. “So what are your feelings toward her now?” detectives asked Christensen. “I hope Karma gives her what she deserves,” Christensen said. “What do you mean by that?” sheriff’s detective Ted Betts asked. “Well, she broke an oath,” Christensen said.”
Just reading this excerpt is chilling, knowing that Christensen had indeed just murdered his ex-girlfriend, mutilated her corpse, and scattered the remains throughout town. Now that it’s clear that Christensen is identifying himself as Wiccan, and is putting the “blood oath” into the context of his Wiccan practice, local and national leaders need to address this situation and make clear that his actions are not representative of this faith. If the prosecution is really hinging premeditation on his Wiccan beliefs, specifically the blood oath, I can’t imagine they’ll call a local leader to debunk his views, or that the defense will do so, since they want to prove Christensen acted without premeditation in order to win a shorter sentence. I’ll keep you posted as this trial continues.
The Pagans of Long Island: I normally don’t cover “meet the Pagans” type news articles much anymore, since they usually don’t have much new to say, and often follow a pretty predictable script (seriously, I could make a drinking game out of it). However, Jaclyn Gallucci’s article about the Pagan/Wiccan community in Long Island is refreshingly in-depth and interviews several practitioners and shop-owners in the area.
“Shortly after becoming initiated himself as a Wiccan in England, Raymond Buckland moved to Brentwood, bringing Wicca to the United States, along with a direct lineage to British traditional witchcraft that has spread clear across the country; he later became a professor at Hofstra University, and created the First Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Bay Shore, which has since closed. It was the first of its kind on Long Island—and in the United States. Buckland today is widely considered the Father of American Wicca. “Long Island has a very, very strong witch and Wiccan presence because of Buckland,” says Rev. Mark Lyons, a high priest of “eclectic” witchcraft, a path that doesn’t strictly adhere to a Wiccan tradition as defined by Gardner or his contemporaries.”
Now granted, the article does peddle in many “meet the Pagans” article stereotypes (Harry Potter, Photoshopped ”Pagan” stock photo, fastest growing religion in America, etc) but those venial sins are to be forgiven considering the obvious amount of effort and care that went into showcasing the voice and history of Pagans in Long Island. I can imagine someone actually coming away from this article learning something about modern Paganism.
“Isaac is back in the hospital and is not doing well. He has bleeding from an undetermined source that may not be repairable. We are anxiously awaiting both test results and ritual results. From his hospital bed, Isaac can see the full moon through his window. Our thoughts will be will everyone during tomorrow night’s rites.”
Such bleeds can be a very serious matter, and potentially life-threatening if not stopped. A massive coordinated working is being scheduled for 9pm tonight throughout the various time-zones.
May 27 is the full moon. That should give us enough time to circulate this message and make preparations. You may wish to print a picture of Isaac and Phaedra from his website or Facebook, to be your focus. Beginning at 9:00 p.m. in your time zone, start the thunder rolling! Cast a circle, light a candle, do whatever works for you. Then chant repeatedly: “Isaac’s tumors fade away. Thirty more years with Phae.”
“Prosecutors believe modern witchcraft drove a Gold Bar man to kill his girlfriend, dismember her body and scatter her remains around Snohomish County … Christensen met Harlan through the Internet, and the two later moved in together. ”And we know this is a significant relationship, because Eric introduced her to his friends. He introduced her to his church,” said defense attorney Kathleen Kyle. Christensen told detectives the woman took a “blood oath” to break-off a relationship with another man. But when Christensen found text messages from an ex-boyfriend, he admits he flew into a jealous rage. ”In ancient times, people who broke blood oaths were sometimes killed,” Christensen told investigators.” – KOMO 4, Seattle
“Sherry Harlan’s sin was breaking a promise. Her punishment was death, mutilation and dismemberment. That’s the theory prosecutors began laying out in front of jurors on Tuesday in the first day of testimony in the trial of a Gold Bar man accused of planning and carrying out the brutal murder of his girlfriend. Eric James Christensen is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors allege that Christensen, 40, became enraged after learning that Harlan broke what he called a “blood oath” and continued communicating with another man … Jurors are expected to hear from the man who allegedly helped Christensen hide Harlan’s remains. That same man, who Christensen met while attending a Wiccan church in Index, is expected to testify that he witnessed the blood oath between Harlan and Christensen.” – The Daily Herald, Everett, Washington
It is not known if the prosecution or defense will call local Pagan leaders to testify. ATC Archpriest Pete Pathfinder Davis has already told prosecutors that Christensen’s death-invoking “blood oath” wasn’t a part of his church’s teachings, or of Wicca in general.
“As the Archpriest of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church of Wicca tradition, I supplied the prosecutor with many references about the Wiccan belief system, and the absence of any such “blood oath” tradition or violence of any kind. It was refreshing to see that the Ms. Polly Keary, editor of the Monroe Monitor, a local small-town newspaper, pointed out that violence to another was against Wiccan beliefs and not part of the religion.” – Pete “Pathfinder” Davis, in a letter to The Wild Hunt
“Christensen initially was arrested and booked Jan. 7 into the Snohomish County Jail for failure to register as a sex offender. He has a 1990 conviction in Oregon for first-degree sexual abuse and is classified as a Level 1 sex offender. He was later charged with second-degree murder, which was upgraded to first-degree murder.”
Whether the jury finds the murder premeditated or not, Christensen is going to prison for a very long time, most likely for the rest of his life. I will be keeping an eye on this trial, how the prosecution team invokes modern Paganism in order to prove premeditation, and what this might mean for local Pagans in the Everett, Washington area, and beyond.
“A Santeria-style shocker has washed up on the shores of DUMBO — a bag full of dead birds, fish, food and even some cash! Pro photographer Steve Harris spotted the macabre mess during an otherwise pleasant stroll last Sunday in the park at the foot of Main Street, just east of Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park. Inside a soaking blue sack were decapitated turkeys, a smaller bird, dead fish, beans, corn, root vegetables, plantains, and six $1 bills.”
“The connection to Santeria seems clearer in the current incident — though a scholar was hesitant to declare that the sack of spooky stuff was without a doubt an example of the syncretic religion. “I don’t want to jump to the conclusion that anytime there is a dead animal in a bag, it’s Santeria,” said Miguel de la Torre, a professor at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. “Many times there are copycats who don’t understand the religious traditions and copy traditions they don’t understand.” Birds are not typically decapitated, he said.”
So even though the previous deaths were not considered Santeria related, and a local scholar casts doubt on whether the blue bag is Santeria related, that doesn’t stop The Brooklyn Paper from opining that this is “far from the first time an unsettling Santeria discovery has shocked a gentrified neighborhood”, and closing with a quote from Harris wishing those practitioners of Santeria would just keep their dead animal parts at home!
“If you’re going to do these things to these animals that’s one thing,” Harris said. “But don’t throw it somewhere where kids will see it by the playground!”
“Immigrants in Florida practice ‘Santeria’ where they behead and bleed goats and chickens in front of children as they spray themselves with blood to cleanse themselves from evil spirits. Where do they stage it? In city parks where Americans are treated to that dark ages practice!”
Of course, even when faiths like Santeria and Vodou keep to their homes and don’t “throw it somewhere where kids will see it”, that’s no promise they won’t have the cops called on them, or even have the police burst into their homes and have them stand around in handcuffs for hours, even though no crime was committed. None of this will stop so long as seemingly respectable publications keep tagging every animal part found in a park or beach as “Santeria”, framing the practice as a barbaric cult that spreads offal and death wherever they go. So once again, it’s not Santeria, and it would be nice if reporters would follow the conclusions of their own evidence for once.
