Is the Christian Cross a “secular symbol of death”? That was the assertion of U.S. District Judge David Sam back in 2007 regarding a series of metal crosses along the Utah highway to honor state highway patrol officers who died in the line of duty. This ruling was appealed in 2008, with support from Americans United, the Hindu American Foundation, The Interfaith Alliance, the Union for Reform Judaism, and others. Officials contended that since the cross is secular, not religious, it would being used regardless of the personal religious persuasion of the fallen officer. So atheist, Mormon, Pagan, Jewish or Hindu cops would all get the giant “non-religious” cross as a memorial. However, yesterday, a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that these crosses were not “secular” and were in fact, as they have always been, symbols of the Christian faith.

“We hold that these memorials have the impermissible effect of conveying to the reasonable observer the message that the state prefers or otherwise endorses a certain religion,” concluded the Denver, Colorado-based court. The state of Utah and a private trooper association have the option of appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Not a secular symbol of death.

This ruling is the latest salvo in the ongoing battles over whether a Christian cross on public lands can ever be secular in orientation. The Supreme Court of the United States recently decided that in certain instances, specifically a eight-foot Christian cross WWI memorial situated on public lands in California’s Mojave National Preserve, it could.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, spoke in broad terms. Although the cross is “a Christian symbol,” said Kennedy, it was not placed on sunrise rock in the Mojave Desert to send “a Christian message.” Nor was it placed there to put a government “imprimatur on a particular creed.”

I’ve long argued that neither tradition, popularity, or ubiquity fully erases a religious symbol’s sectarian nature.

“The idea that the cross is “secular” ties into the larger notion that Christian religious expression and tradition, due to its size and ubiquity, is “normal” and ultimately beneficial. The corollary is that non-Christian religious expressions or traditions are “abnormal” and considered suspect. But popularity and tradition doesn’t remove religious context from a religious symbol, instead it subtly reinforces that faith’s dominance and “right” to utter ubiquity. If the cross was truly secular, we wouldn’t have over 40 different emblems of belief for military markers and headstones, nor would minority religions fight to have their own symbols added to that list.

There is no “secular symbol of death”, any more than there is a “secular symbol of life”, because a truly secular culture allows groups and individuals to choose and adapt their own symbols and instill them with meaning. When governments and judges start telling us which religious symbols are “secular”, we enter into a hierarchy of signs, where the faith(s) with the strongest cultural hold gains official sanction in all but name. Undermining the idea that government should make no law“respecting an establishment of religion”.”

More simply, you do not honor a Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, or Pagan by erecting a Christian cross in their name, any more than erecting a giant pentacle would honor a fallen Christian.

“The mere fact that the cross is a common symbol used in roadside memorials does not mean it is a secular symbol,” said the panel. “The massive size of the crosses displayed on Utah’s rights-of-way and public property unmistakably conveys a message of endorsement, proselytization, and aggrandizement of religion that is far different from the more humble spirit of small roadside crosses.”

The state of Utah and the Utah Highway Patrol Association are expected to appeal, so we may see how far SCOTUS is willing to go regarding the issue of “secular” crosses on public lands. Considering the fact that Justice Scalia thinks it’s “outrageous” to think that a Christian cross only honors Christian dead, we may see further advancements in efforts to secularize this religious symbol (no matter what the long-term ramifications of that may be).

A few quick notes for you on this Wednesday.

Bumper Sticker Politics: If I was pressed to name the most innocuous bumper decoration ever, the “Coexist” sticker would be right up there with the “My Kid is On the Honor Roll at…” (which has been endlessly parodied) tags, or maybe the Christian fish and its endless permutations. But it seems I’m wrong, and the sticker is in fact a sign of everything that is going wrong in America according to Republican Allen West a candidate for the House in Florida’s 22nd district.

“[A]s I was driving up here today, I saw that bumper sticker that absolutely incenses me. It’s not the Obama bumper sticker. But it’s the bumper sticker that says, ‘Co-exist.’ And it has all the little religious symbols on it. And the reason why I get upset, and every time I see one of those bumper stickers, I look at the person inside that is driving. Because that person represents something that would give away our country. Would give away who we are, our rights and freedoms and liberties because they are afraid to stand up and confront that which is the antithesis, anathema of who we are. The liberties that we want to enjoy.”

Now West, a local Tea Party favorite, seems to be focused mostly on the Muslim “C” in “coexist” when pondering his revulsion of the sticker, but I can’t imagine why a sentiment of peaceful coexistence among all the world’s religions has become the focus for his “Islam is the 5th column” tirade. It’s troubling enough when moderate and mystical elements within Islam are ignored by politicians, but these remarks make one wonder if there are any other faiths coexisting that he has a problem with. I mean, has he had any chats with Pagan tea partiers? Maybe palled around with Dan Halloran? Are there any other letters in “coexist” that have him seeing red?

Who Will Run? Tensions are already mounting in Haiti’s upcoming presidential race. Over 30 potential candidates, including musician Wyclef Jean, are vying to be the nation’s top executive; and Haiti’s electoral commission is supposed to issue a ruling Friday as to who will be allowed to run. Jean, who’s been getting death threats after announcing his intentions, is battling challenges to his eligibility, and it may come down to testimony from a Vodou priest.

“Two people contested Jean’s candidacy on the grounds that he does not meet the residency requirement. A justice of the peace, the records mention, went to the suburban neighborhood of Lassarre — where Jean stays when he visits Haiti — to interview a Vodou priest in an effort to establish Jean’s residency requirement.”

Meanwhile, Jean’s friend and former Fugees bandmate Pras, who’s backing one of Jean’s potential opponents, Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly (also a musician), claims his man has the backing of the “Vodou guys” in Haiti.

“He’s a transformative figure. Michel is one of the only guys that can unite not only the whole country — the elite, the masses, the youth, the Christians, the voodoo guys — but also the diaspora, the Haitians out here in America, Africa. He’s the ambassador for environmental protection, for disaster relief, and he has a foundation that’s been helping out the community for seventeen years. Michel served in the army. He’s not doing it for photo ops … People have this affinity for him that is natural. When you have that as a leader, it goes farther than someone coming in who’s popular.”

Once we have an official slate of candidates, and know who the front-runners are, we will be able to better gauge which candidates will be the best for Haiti’s future in terms of religious freedom and coexistence with that country’s “voodoo guys”. It will be interesting to see who various notable figures in Haitian Vodou, like Max Beauvoir, will back.

The “Dark Wave” of Australian Paganism: Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt takes aim at Australian Pagans by holding up some local Pagan-oriented magazines, and recent cop-dragging news-getter Eilish De Avalon, as symbols of a “dark wave” of declining reason.

“Oh, you’re right, it’s just a few women flirting with their irrational and harmlessly naughty side. But noticed how many of them there suddenly are? Sen-Constable Andrew Logan has. In February he pulled over a woman driving through Geelong while talking on her mobile, and asked her why she didn’t have a licence, either. “Your laws and penalties don’t apply to me,” replied Eilish De Avalon, a 40-year-old witch. “I’m a being from another world and don’t require one.” And off she drove, with Logan’s arm unluckily wedged in her window. Penalty last week: two months’ jail. If Logan was surprised to find a witch even in no-mucking-around Geelong, he hasn’t paid attention. In the 1996 Census, just 1849 Australians claimed to be followers of Wicca or witchcraft. A decade later, there were 8214 of them, with another 15,516 Pagans. Most were women, of course, and a Monash University study says a high proportion are bisexual. But what else do you expect, with reason in decline and Greens on the rise?”

Just more pile-on for the Pagans in Australia, who have been dealing with waves of bad press lately due to figures like Eilish De Avalon, and Lizzy Rose making the headlines (and snarky blog posts).  As Australian Pagan Gavin Andrew said recently at my blog, “at two strokes the gains that the Australian pagan community made in terms of local interfaith dialogue and public acceptance last year at the Parliament of the World’s Religions (with the help of so many of the U.S. delegates) have now well and truly been undone.” It will no doubt take years of work to put these events behind them, while dealing with people like Bolt, who seem to have nothing better to do than wring his hands over Pagan magazine articles.

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

Top Story: Are you a Pagan family in North Carolina that would like to take a day or two off for holiday observances? A new North Carolina law would let you keep your kids home from school with an excused absence.

“It requires all school systems, community colleges and public universities to allow students at least two excused absences each academic year for religious observances. The law standardizes an informal practice. But some administrators hope it won’t create exam-week havoc.”

Sounds like a net positive, right? Practitioners of minority faiths that don’t have observances that overlap with existing Christian holidays can include the kids without hassle, and college students can attend a scheduled event without worry of hurting their GPA. But a comment from Rep. Rick Glazier, who co-sponsored the bill, have some worried about how it will be applied.

“It has to be a bona fide holiday; you don’t get to just take the day off because you want to pray at home.”

So who decides what’s a “bona fide” holiday? Will the school take the parent’s word for it? The law is vague on this point, only saying that schools can request a letter of explanation if they want. Faith & Reason’s Cathy Lynn Grossman notes the law could make minority faiths have to “prove their religiosity”, but it’s more the “praying at home” bit that I’m concerned about. If your “church” is the living room, or an open field, or a forest, does it still count as bona fide? It should be interesting to see how this law is enacted by different schools, and see how it handles Pagan requests for days off.

Guilty Sentence For Cop-Dragging Pagan Priestess: A Magistrate has found Eilish De Avalon, who gained international noteriety last month for dragging a cop by the arm during a routine traffic stop, guilty of recklessly causing injury. De Avalon, who is currently out on bail pending an appeal, made tabloid headlines by announcing she was a “pagan priestess”, and that man-made laws didn’t apply to her, much to the chagrin of other local Pagans who said that incident has set back local interfaith efforts. In a press release, the Australian Pagan Awareness Network (PAN) blasted those who were using this incident to put her beliefs, and by extension the beliefs of all Australian Pagans, on trial.

“The media has done its best to put Ms De Avalon on trial in the court of public opinion for her beliefs as well as her actions. I doubt they would bother if she were a Catholic or a Hindu or practically any other religion. What is the big deal about practicing an indigenous European belief like witchcraft? When it comes to the law, people’s actions are what matter.”

It remains to be seen what will happen next. I can’t imagine she’ll win on appeal with the involuntary “autonomous state” defense she used in the first trial. As for the reputation of Pagans in Australia, perhaps the soon-to-be-airing episode of Rituals: Around the World in 80 Faiths (which I covered here previously) that features Australian Pagans will help things a bit.

A Cuban Santera on Faith, Possession, and Divination: Journalism student Kelly Knaub interviews Cuban Santera Iyalocha Lourdes about her faith for the Havana Times, and undergoes a purification ritual as well. During the interview Iyalocha Lourdes goes into some detail on the matter of possession by spirits, which I found quite interesting.

“In the beginning you lose consciousness. It’s a process of spiritual development. Right now you’re an embryon – a person that doesn’t have the potential or capability to be a medium. Right now, that’s you – you don’t have any knowledge. You come to my temple to develop yourself spiritually, which means to process and open yourself and become a spiritualist. So, in the beginning, I pull the spirits so that they possess you. You lose consciousness, you don’t remember anything.

As the years go by, and you continue perfecting and working more with your spirituality, a moment will come when you’re seated, like I am, and a spirit comes to you and you speak, sometimes also in a conscious state and you can remember it. But this comes with practice.”

They also talk about gender within Santeria, “false spiritualists” who only do it for the money, and animal sacrifice. It’s definitely worth a read, especially since most mainstream journalism about Santeria doesn’t tend to allow this much detail or insight into their practices.

The Welsh Witch Problem: It seems that rural Wales is a hotbed of occult and strange happenings being reported to the police. A recent Freedom of Information Act request reveals that residents in places like Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire are having all sorts of supernatural problems, including “witches” behaving badly.

The force, which covers Mid and West Wales, has received 86 reports of witches in the last five years. The force’s police incident log reveals details of the calls. One caller reported “that one individual is a witch and had attended at the house to put salt around the bed”. A caller in January last year claimed he had been fed a “fur ball” during a witchcraft ritual. Following a call from Llanelli, police recorded: “Caller, who was drunk, who rang regarding a gang of witches who want to sacrifice him.” Another call was a report of a “malicious communication: rumours that an individual’s mother is a witch”.

OK, which tradition’s been feeding people fur balls? There were also reports of ghosts, vampires, demons, and wizards, but witches topped the list. The Dyfed Powys Police downplayed these reports, saying they are far more ordinary taken in context, though local paranormal experts insist this is just further proof that “Wales is a frighteningly haunted country”. That still doesn’t explain the fur ball. Was it from a cat? Is it a euphemism? What?

I Can Only Imagine the Internet Spam I’ll Get Now: Plenty of places on the net are getting a decent chuckle over an Ebay auction that is selling a spell by a “powerful Wiccan Witch” to increase the size of your, ahem, “booty”.

“Are you desperate to achieve the perfect butt and perhaps a fan of the occult? For just $8.95, you can achieve your dreams by buying one “Booty Enhancement Spell” from a “Powerful Wiccan Witch” on eBay. Hurry, supplies are limited!”

There’s also a spell for breast enhancement. The powerful “Amelia” (it that’s her real name) claims that she’s “used this [spell] many times with stunning results!” But just in case, buying multiple castings ensures greater chances for success (naturally). There’s always been spell-peddlers in our community, but this level of brazenness and scammy-spammy-vibes may take this to a new high/low. One wonders what old Gerald would have to say about booty-boosting spells.

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

Pagan Community Notes is a companion to my usual Pagan News of Note, a new series more focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. I want to reinforce the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. My hope is that more individuals, especially those working within Pagan organizations, get into the habit of sharing their news with the world. So lets get started!

Wren’s Nest Closes Down: Yesterday, on the Witches’ Voice Facebook page, site co-founder Wren Walker announced that she was closing down the long-running and popular Pagan news service Wren’s Nest.

“Greetings! As many of you already know – or have discovered via a TWV link – Wren’s Nest is closed. There are new ways by which media and people exchange information. This page is one of them. We would like to thank everyone who supported, shared, commented and otherwise made Wren’s Nest News the resource that it was. It was my heart-felt pleasure and deepest honor to serve you.”

This is truly the end of any era. Wren’s Nest paved the way for sites like mine, and there’s strong evidence that it may have been the very first Pagan blog, certainly the first to deal with Pagan news. Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote for Llewellyn’s 2007 Wicca Almanac concerning Wren’s Nest.

“The real revolution regarding Pagans and blogging began in 1997, with the launch of what would become the most popular Web site for Wiccans, Witches, and modern Pagans … While Wren’s Nest never identified itself [as a blog]. It is updated regularly (daily, in fact); it is organized chronologically, with individual posts one can link to, and it allows readers to comment on each post. While Wren rarely opines on the news links and essays she shares with her readership (aside from the occasional “Chirp”), this site proved that blogging is something that could work for Pagans as a mass audience. In the years that followed, many other bloggers have been inspired by (or have simply imitated) Wren’s approach. This paved the way for the blogging community we have now.”

While Wren’s Nest is closed, Wren herself is (along with other Witchvox staffers) still “chirping” news items at The Witches’ Voice Facebook page, so you can still get a selection of daily news items that way. Thank you Wren for your years of service, your contributions will be remembered and honored.

Pagan Health Survey: The American Public Health Association (APHA) has issued a call for papers concerning public health among religious minorities in the United States for their annual conference, and Kimberly Hedrick of the TriWinds Institute is conducting a survey of modern Pagan communities to relate our views concerning health at this event.

“As both a Pagan and cultural anthropologist, I felt it was vitally important that we help policy-makers and service providers understand our needs and beliefs. This will help us to meet the health care needs of our community and build public understanding of our religious and spiritual traditions. I designed the Pagan Health Survey to help people better understand us and our views on health. The results will be combined with what I have gained by being within the Pagan community and sitting in on healing panel discussions, workshops, and so forth, as well as interviews with Pagan clergy and health care practitioners. This research is being funded through my grassroots nonprofit, TriWinds Institute through donations.”

You can access the survey, here. Kimberly Hedrick, who holds a PhD in cultural anthropology, welcomes questions and inquiries into the project, its goals, and her own background. You can either e-mail her, or visit the survey’s Facebook group. To get a statistically significant sample it needs thousands of respondents, and she only has a couple of months to collect the data in time, so she’s asking the Pagan community to help distribute the survey far and wide.

Memorials for Isaac Bonewits: Many special memorial services are being planned for Pagan leader Isaac Bonewits, who passed away on August 12th. The family will be holding a memorial and remembrance of Isaac on August 21st at the First Unitarian Society of Rockland County (FUSRC) in Pomona, NY.

“I lost the love of my life last Thursday, but his life goes on in the influence he’s had on everyone. We will be celebrating his life next Saturday, August 21, in Pomona, NY” – Phaedra Bonewits

Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF) is also holding a memorial service for Isaac on August 19th at the Summerland Festival.

“ADF will be holding a Memorial this coming Thursday (Aug. 19) at the Summerland Festival near Yellow Springs, OH at 9pm. We will call on Isaac as our newest Ancestor and also call on the Ancient Wise to welcome him into their midst. Afterwards we will hold a Wake in the dining hall.”

Word is that the ADF memorial ritual will be recorded, and pieces of it made available on the Internet. Other memorials are also being planned as well, check this Facebook thread for updated information to see if there’s one in your area. You may also want to listen to a special memorial episode of Pagans Tonight, which features Phaedra Bonewits, Selena Fox, Ian Corrigan, and Oberon and Morning Glory Zell Ravenheart sharing stories. You can download that show, here.

Covering the Sacred Harvest Festival: PNC-Minnesota is back from Sacred Harvest Festival and they are planning a special series of audio interviews and articles from the event.

“Over the next few weeks, as part of a special series, you’ll have the opportunity to listen to audio interviews with one of the founders of the Sacred Harvest Festival, a young man who arrived at the festival as a practicing Lutheran and left as a newly awakened Pagan, and musical guests such as Murphy’s Midnight Rounders – just to name a few. You’ll read about (and see) a broom that was created on Friday the 13th by at the festival by an artisan for a newly formed coven, the experiences of a man who started attending the festival when he was a young teen and how it has impacted his life, and the honoring of a respected community elder by over 100 people in his teaching lineage. This is just a small sample of was experienced.”

I’m very much looking forward to the coverage, and commend PNC-Minnesota for doing this work. If you haven’t already, subscribe to their site via RSS so you don’t miss a thing!

If You Couldn’t Make it To One of My Appearances: I’ve been giving talks at several festivals and events this past year, but I realize that many of you can’t make it out to see me in person (Bummer!). Luckily, some kind folks at MerryMeet got some excellent audio recordings of the two main talks I’ve been giving: Emerging Trends & The Pagan Movement, and Pagans & the New Media. You can click those links and stream or download my talks! Now you can find out what you have (or haven’t) been missing. Every “um”, “ah”, and awkward pause has been preserved!

Thanks again to the MerryMeet folks for hosting me and treating me so well!

That’s all I have for now, expect a Pagan News of Note soon to catch up on the mainstream news from the last few days.

Have a great day!

On the second day of their annual business meeting, known as the Grand Council, the Covenant of The Goddess elected a new slate of officers for their governing Board. The new First Officer/President, who will guide the organization for at least the next year starting on Samhain, is COG member Peter Dybing. Dybing has come to prominence within the larger Pagan community lately for his hands-on activism in places like earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince in Haiti, and in clean-up efforts on the Gulf Coast in the wake of the massive oil spill there. The election of Dybing seems to hint at a new engagement with the larger Pagan world, and a new commitment towards communicating the ethics and goals of this long-standing organization that has boasted Margot Adler, Starhawk, Diana Paxson, and many other well-known figures, on their membership rolls.

Peter Dybing, center, along with the rest of the newly elected COG Board.

“I wanted to serve the Covenant, they do some really wonderful things in terms of interfaith work, public information work, and people doing work in prisons. There’s some great things [COG does] I want to support. I think it’s really important because we’ve made so many inroads over the years that those things continue to get our support.” – Peter Dybing

I was able to sit down with Dybing shortly after his election to talk about his new role as First Officer, the many activities COG engages in, and his vision for the future of the organization.

You can download the entire interview, here.

Dybing will assume duties starting on Samhain 2010, the start of the organization’s new fiscal year. Outgoing First Officer Sylvia Webb, in a conversation with me shortly after the election, expressed her happiness with Dybing’s election, and confidence in his abilities.

“As the outgoing First Officer of the Covenant of the Goddess I have been honored to be a part of the COG Board for the past year. I know that we are incredibly blessed by the Goddess and the God to have individuals of great quality who are willing to sacrifice time, personal resources, personal creativity and magickal skills in the service of all Witches, Wiccans and Pagans throughout the world. Our new incoming First Officer, Peter Dybing has a long history of service in many arenas and we are glad that he is willing to engage in spiritual service (long an Elder tradition in Covenant of the Goddess and all Wiccan Paths) by lending his administrative and organizational experiences and talents to the Covenant of the Goddess during these times of rapid technological and ideological change. Thank you Peter for taking on this task.” – Sylvia T. Webb (aka AmberIsis), First Officer of Covenant of the Goddess 2009/2010

I wish Peter Dybing good luck in his new leadership role, and look forward to what the COG Board will achieve during his tenure.

Starting with an invocation to the organization’s matron deity Coventina, the Covenant of the Goddess (COG) began their two-day annual business meeting, known as the Grand Council. Held during their yearly MerryMeet festival, this year in Indianapolis, the Grand Council is an exercise in how a mature Pagan organization perpetuates itself and makes important policy decisions. On their 35th anniversary, this respected institution for those who practice various forms of religious Witchcraft faces issues dealing with  stagnation, communication, and their own success.

The Grand Council is something unique. All decisions are made by consensus, and representatives from local regional councils, member covens, and solitary members get a say before anything can move forward. This can be contentious at times, but is surprisingly effective at forming and strengthening group identity and unity.

“Consensus wasn’t always easy to pass on (unless you had been raised in a Quaker setting, where it is the usual method of decision-making) but we stuck with it, and were often rewarded when difficult issues were solved in ways that had broad-based and sometimes unexpected support, rather than causing schisms which could have ended the organization.” – Anna Korn, Membership Officer of the Northern California Local Council, Covenant of the Goddess

“The true magic of COG’s consensus process is that, in a group of over 100 covens from all traditions and all parts of the country in which any representative in the room could stop the process with a veto, we can only move forward though the shared good will and sense of shared Wiccan identity among all here. And more forward we do… making decision after decision.” – Don Frew, National Interfaith Representative, Covenant of the Goddess

As a spectator, what struck me amid the budget requests and fine-tuning of proposal language, was the large amount of good this Witch/Wiccan group does that goes largely unnoticed.

COG members are currently involved in advances in Pagan military chaplaincy, Pagan prison chaplaincy, interfaith in a number of contexts, and positive activism on a number of issues. However, the membership is graying, there are complaints of a stagnant growth rate, and there’s a sense that they are victims of their own success.

“Many people don’t realize that many of the freedoms Witches enjoy today are the result of many years of legal, cultural, and societal battles successfully waged by COG and other groups. The more successful we’ve been, the less some uninformed Witches see a need for us. In this, we’re in the same boat as many feminist organizations” - Don Frew, National Interfaith Representative, Covenant of the Goddess

Right now there are several proposals and a reawakened energy among members behind improving communications and outreach within the organization. There is a hope of interacting with a new generation of Witches, instilling a new ethos of the coven system at a time when eclectic solitary individualism rules the day, and turning part of their focus back toward the Pagan community they’ve worked for so long on the behalf of.

Tomorrow are elections for their national Board of Directors, at the end of which there will be a new First Officer. I’ll be reporting on that, and hopefully doing a short interview with the winner to talk about their vision for COG.

I would just like to quickly share some of the many tributes and memorials to Pagan elder and theologian Isaac Bonewits, who passed away yesterday at the age of 60, that are now available. First, there’s the official obituary from Isaac’s family.

“During his forty years as a Neopagan priest, scholar, teacher, bard, and polytheologian, Isaac Bonewits coined much of the vocabulary and articulated many of the issues that have shaped the rapidly growing Neopagan movement in the United States and Canada.

Mr. Bonewits was internationally known as a speaker who educated, enlightened and entertained two generations of modern Goddess worshippers, nature mystics, and followers of other minority belief systems, as well as explained these movements to journalists, law enforcement officers, college students, and academic researchers.”

From Cherry Hill Seminary:

“Isaac’s passion for learning and scholarship was an inspiration to many of us. His willingness to challenge, explore, question and learn leave a legacy which is an example for all of us in the years to come.

We extend to his loved ones a heartfelt wish for healing and peace.”

From Patheos.com:

“I honor Isaac for his contributions to Modern Paganism, for his tireless efforts on behalf of his spiritual community and for his good humor and grace while battling cancer. I honor him for his humanity and hope to learn from his life journey.

As sad as I am regarding his passing, he is now beyond the veil and while we reverence his memory, we also need to remember to support his family in their time of grief. Isaac leaves behind a son, Arthur, and a widow, Phaedra, who need all of our love and support.”

From Ian Corrigan, Archdruid Emeritus, ADF:

“Isaac was a man of ideas, especially as concerned practical spiritual and magical art and religion. At heart Isaac was a Pagan – a lover of nature in all its forms, including human nature, he loved the Old Gods and the Old Ways. He was not only a freethinker and an experimental occultist, but was always concerned to bring back the worship of the Gods in modern times. This troubled him through his interaction with the various RDNAs, which included many secularists and universalists. Isaac’s determination led him to produce several variations on his idea of Neopagan Druidism, and when his ideas finally met the emergent Pagan festival culture they found fertile ground at last in Ar nDraiocht Fein.”

From Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF):

“We members of ADF are filled with great sadness at the news of the death of our founder, Rev. Isaac Bonewits. Our thoughts and our hearts go out to his widow, Phaedra, his son, Arthur, and his entire family at this unhappy time.

ADF shall hold a special service to celebrate his life, followed by a wake of remembrance on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 9pm EDT at the Summerland ADF Festival at Camp Clifton in Yellow Springs, OH. We invite everyone who loved Isaac or who has been touched by his works and writings to remember him at that time by lighting a candle or holding a ritual in his honor.

At Thursday’s Memorial Service we shall welcome Isaac into the ranks of the Ancient Wise, those of our ancestors, the Sacred Dead, who are willing to join with us and grant us the wisdom we need to bring back the old ways.

On our website we also have a special memorial page for Isaac where there is a eulogy by Ian Corrigan and links to a special guestbook page where anyone may leave their condolences. It may be seen at http://www.adf.org/about/leaders/isaac-bonewits/.

My the Gods ease Isaac’s passage into the Otherworlds, and may the Ancestors welcome him with open arms. We also pray that they ease the pain of his family and of those who shall sorely miss him. And we pray that his blessings and wisdom will cross the veils to us here for the benefit of ADF and of us all.”

There are many more, including tributes from Deborah Lipp, Chas Clifton, Ruby Sara, Frater Barrabbas Tiresius, and Peg Aloi at The Witches’ Voice. Feel free to post links to other tributes you find, or leave your own here. Once again, all honor to Isaac Bonewits, and blessings to his family.

UPDATE: NPR piece on Isaac’s passing by Margot Adler.