[The following is a guest post by Mihir Meghani, M.D.; Board Member & Co-Founder, Hindu American Foundation (www.hafsite.org)]

INTRODUCTION

Witches, Heathens, Pagans, Wiccans, Druids, and even someone dressed as Lord Shiva, a divine representation of the God and the infinite in Hinduism — this was the colorful scene at PantheaCon 2011.  Drawing 2300 people, this outstanding event left me and other members of the Hindu American Foundation with energy and hope that we can do a lot together for a better future.

Who knows what spells were cast, but Amadea certainly must have cast a good one in 2009 in Melbourne, Australia at the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Call it karma, but since the Hindu American Foundation’s (HAF’s) Managing Director and Legal Counsel Suhag Shukla, my wife Tanvi Jhaveri, and I met her, Patrick McCollum, and other Pagan leaders there, the Hindu-Pagan relationship has blossomed.

PANTHEACON 2011

Pantheacon serves a very important role not only for Pagans, but for non-Pagans as well. The variety of topics, speakers, and sessions provided opportunities to catch a glimpse of many Pagan traditions, participate in Pagan ceremonies and ritual, and dialogue about issues of concern to the Pagan and non-Pagan communities. As with any cultural event, this is best experienced when one leaves behind preconceived notions about what is about to be experienced and participates without inhibitions. Given my personal friendship with Pagans and my background working with Pagans, I felt quite at home. Though I couldn’t find that elixir for a long and happy life or a potion to cure the flu (although rumor has it that these things might exist), I was immensely happy to see the large turnout, the pride in Pagans for their traditions, the organizational level of the conference, and the very warm welcome given to Hindus who had come to learn, share, and join together for future collaboration with Pagans. The fact that Hinduism could be presented to a friendly audience was quite a relief from the “caste, cows and karma” tones of academic meetings on Hinduism.

HISTORY OF HINDU-PAGAN INTERACTION

There has been Hindu-Pagan dialogue and cooperation in the past. The International Center for Cultural Studies and the World Council of Elders of the Ancient Traditions and Cultures have had events focusing on bringing Hindu and Pagan leaders closer together. HAF was represented at the World Congress of Ethnic Religions (now European Congress of Ethnic Religions) at their conference in Latvia in 2007 where several landmark resolutions were passed: Against Hate Speech; Against Exploitation of the Vulnerable in Proselytization; For Tolerance; and To Ending Discrimination Against Ethnic (pagan) Religions.

COMMON GROUND

Ongoing discussions with the Pagan community have found common ground – ancient legacies interrupted by invasions, murder and mayhem by certain crusading elements in some monotheistic faiths (what PantheaCon panelist Easan Katir coined as “Only-My-Godism”); a world dominated by an ideological framework in which the views of our faiths are afterthoughts; flourishing in a world where we are minorities; challenging the usurpation of religious symbols, festivals and traditions; dealing with prejudice and promoting civil and human rights; representing our traditions to the broader community in which we live; commonalities in attempts to understand and interact with nature and the divine; acceptance of the inherent equality and spiritual power of women and female representations of the divine; respect for self-directed spiritual experience; belief in the value of religious pluralism; countering predatory proselytization; and the reality of the diversity within our spiritual families.

The three Hindu-Pagan sessions at PantheaCon were outstanding in that they provided Hindus and Pagans an opportunity to openly share emotions and perspectives about the past, challenges about the present, and hopes for the future on friendly turf. The depth of understanding was quite good and the session formats allowed quite a bit of time for discussion. I left Pantheacon feeling like I had left an extended family reunion, but with a much deeper understanding of my relatives.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Most importantly, we need to work together more closely. Tremendous challenges loom – the decline in pluralism over thousands of years will take decades if not hundreds of years to reverse. However, challenges present opportunities. The Hindu American Foundation has made pluralism part of its motto “promoting understanding, tolerance and pluralism,” and pluralism is one of the defining characteristics of Hindu and Pagan traditions. Hindus and Pagans can make a lasting contribution to the world by once again promoting pluralism as a core value of society and its individuals – something evidently lacking in the world today in which intolerance is so prominent. We need to challenge ourselves to make pluralism a value similar in respect to values such as honesty and charity. People should be proud to proclaim that they are pluralist – that they revel in and respect the diversity around them. Children should be raised with this value. For the survival of not only our traditions but humanity altogether, we must move from the motto of, “I will tolerate you though you are wrong,” to a true commitment to pluralism.

We also have much work to do in fighting for our rights in the courts through groups like the Lady Liberty League and HAF. We have to make our voices heard in fora such as the Departments of Education in each state, the United Nations and the U.S. State Department. If we don’t represent ourselves, then who will? In order to do this effectively, we must set up institutions that can effectively fight for us. And such work will require immense sacrifice from volunteer trailblazers – their time, energy, and money. Failing in this will only serve to provide a foundation on which the mistakes of our ancient pasts can happen again.

History has shown that we were conquered, converted, and enslaved due to lack of unity because we had not understood our common core values, and therefore could not see our common goals. Our long term success in the future therefore should not be based on how strong Pagans or Hindus will be, but how strong Pagans and Hindus collectively become. Our histories are ancient, and carry periods of glory and periods of demise as we did not join forces when attacked, but our futures can be brighter if we let our core pluralism bring us together. We have the education, the creative spirit, the skills and the money. We need to let our energies flow and address our current needs and long term goals in unison. Remember, together, we are 1 billion strong!

One of my distinct pleasures at this year’s PantheaCon was moderating a distinguished panel on how different modern Pagans are using, utilizing, and benefiting (or not benefiting) from new media. On the panel was author, organizer, and teacher T. Thorn Coyle, Star Foster, Managing Editor at the Pagan Portal of Patheos.com, Brandi Palechek, Online Marketing Specialist at Llewellyn, and Christine Hoff Kraemer, Department Chair, Theology and Religious History at Cherry Hill Seminary, each exploring how they use and navigate new media in their respective careers.

The new media panel. Photo by Heron Herodias.

The entire panel was recorded, and T. Thorn Coyle has graciously posted the audio through her Elemental Castings podcast. You can directly download the show, here. I think this presentation is particularly vital right now because much of the talk goes beyond mere introduction to the topic and explores issues of money, promotional benefits, e-publishing, trolls, and piracy.

I hope you’ll download the podcast, and give it a listen. I think it can spark some needed conversations as our community becomes ever-more enmeshed with various new media technologies. Thank you to PantheaCon for hosting the panel, and to all the panelists for giving of their time and experience.

Here’s something I thought I’d never have to confront at The Wild Hunt, writing about the high-profile mental meltdown of a famous television and film actor. Yet, here we are. Charlie “Tiger Blood” Sheen is having his Britney moment, and the gossip bloggers, mainstream press, artists, and various musicians are having field day. But like all good/bad things in the press, there are diminishing returns, people get bored of the cries for attention, and the ever-hungry celebrity press must constantly look for new angles to keep their latest hot mess story suitably warm until the next controversy explodes. Enter the Warlock. Celebrity gossip super-site TMZ has zeroed in on Salem’s Witchy impresario Christian Day, who has been on a recent kick to reclaim the term “Warlock”, and is offended by Sheen’s cavalier usage of the term in his semi-coherent ramblings.

Salem’s Coven of the Raven Moon in Salem, Massachusetts told us he’s “fuming” over the statement because it’s a “blatant offense against our ways.” The warlock — named Christian Day  tells us he plans to take action against the actor … not legal action — but magical action.  Day explains, “I am going to magically bind Mr. Sheen, not to harm him, but to simply prevent him from using this word in such a negative manner in the future.”

As goes TMZ, so goes the Boston Herald, the Daily Telegraph (in Australia), and host of smaller blogs and news outlets. Star Foster at Patheos.com immediately recognizes why Day might pick this moment to be offended, even if it leaves a bad taste in the mouths of other Pagans.

“So why is Christian upset? Because his going to TMZ in a state of indignation resembles the type of publicity stunts that have caused many of us to distance ourselves from folks like Kevin Carlyon. His story in TMZ does our community no good. We derive no benefit from it. This story hurts the Pagan community while increasing Christian’s flash and pizazz. Maybe Christian wants to be Occult Advisor to the Stars! Yet he’s effectively alienated a large number of folks who would have supported him prior to this shenanigan.”

But while Star invokes the wearer of the red bathrobe, Day’s particular media pedigree is far closer to (his) home. Salem’s own Laurie Cabot, who once engaged in many of the media-grabbing activities that Day now does. Now that Laurie is semi-retired, it seems natural that someone would choose to fill that void. I have little doubt that Christian is having the time of his life.

However, if we’re really looking for something to be offended by in Charlie Sheen’s recent behavior, should it really be him nattering on about being a “Vatican assassin warlock”, or is it something that has (literally) been paraded right in front of our eyes for weeks now? Jo Piazza at PopEater offers an op-ed about Sheen’s “goddesses”, the two young women who now share the star’s house and bed.

“Watch any of Sheen’s live interviews in his posh Hollywood estate and you will see one of his two goddesses, Natty, a bikini model, and Rach (also known as Bree, her porn name) [...] Sheen refers to these ladies as his goddesses, often with a sly smirk. [...] On ‘The Howard Stern Show’ Tuesday morning, Sheen revealed the sleeping arrangement he has worked out with the goddesses, whereby they each sleep in their own beds in the same room. When he is ready to retire, Charlie enters the room like a monarch and chooses between the two. We wonder which one sighs in relief. Particularly insulting in this entire scenario is the use of the term goddess, a typically sacred title used to refer to a woman who is treated with special reverence.”

Piazza also quotes Cooper Lawrence, author of ‘Cult of Celebrity’, who notes that Sheen treats women like interchangeable sexual objects, while calling them “goddesses”, inverting  “a term that women use to embrace power.” If we Pagans really want to be upset at Charlie Sheen, if we feel some great urging to jump into the celebrity news grinder, I’d much rather it be over his degradation of that word than of “warlock.” For any family of faiths that see the divine as feminine, a man who has spent years violently abusing women should not be seen as a joke, or an opportunity to gain the spotlight. We should instead point out that these are the fruits of substance abuse mixed with unchained patriarchal power. That, in my mind, is the most offensive thing about Sheen’s meltdown.

Yesterday opening arguments were heard in the trial of New Age self-help guru James Arthur Ray, who’s charged with manslaughter after three people died during a sweat lodge ceremony led by Ray in late 2009.

Prosecutors claim Ray, 53, was reckless and that the lodge — made of willow trees and branches, and covered with tarpaulins and blankets — was heated to a perilously high temperature, causing the participants to suffer dehydration and heat stroke. [...] ”Three vibrant, healthy adults … entered a sweat lodge at a retreat center in Sedona,” prosecutor Sheila Polk said during her opening statement. “Each one was eager to gain knowledge and each was looking for wisdom and personal insight. Instead of growth and enlightenment, Kirby, James and Liz found death.”

Defense attorney Luis Li seeks to prove that these deaths were nothing more than “a tragic accident,” even implying that poisoned building materials might be to blame, while prosecution are painting a portrait of a power-driven and negligent egomaniac. They plan to call around 50 witnesses during the length of the trial. Meanwhile, CNN profiles the voices of Native Americans frustrated at how their cultural and religious traditions have been abused and tainted by figures like Ray.

The Ray case highlights an outrage that’s long existed for many Native Americans. They are tired of their traditions being co-opted by others and exploited for capital gain. They resent that a ceremony they view as sacred is now being tied to terms like “death trap.” They don’t want their ancient ways to be deemed fashionable or inspire impersonators. [...]  Autumn Two Bulls, 29, also lives on Pine Ridge, and just thinking about the dream catchers that hang in trendy gift shops, the non-Native Americans who make money off her people’s artifacts, makes her cry “rape.” ”Haven’t native people been through enough?” says Two Bulls, a writer who created Reservation H.E.L.P. (Helping Every Lakota Person), an organization to help impoverished families. “It’s a fad to be Indian today. … They envision us like a fantasy culture,” but the harsh reality is one they helped create and won’t face, she suggests.

Despite the negative publicity surrounding Ray, that hasn’t slowed down other New Age personalities from making blatantly false claims of spiritual authority relating to American Indian tribes, and misusing their spiritual technologies. Recently Native American activists rallied to protest an appearance by Kiesha “Little Grandmother” Crowther, who makes the audacious claim of being “made shaman of the Sioux and Salish tribes” (a claim both tribes deny, and one she has since modified to a more generic “Native American elder”).

As modern Pagans, these issues affect us in a number of different ways, and no doubt this case will trigger some soul-searching about how we market and utilize our own practices. We should show solidarity with those who are trying to prevent the fiscal exploitation of Native American religions and culture, we can utilize our own overlap with various New Age communities to emphasize that the actions of Ray is something more than a tragic isolated incident to be glossed over, and we can work to engage in greater awareness of how the misuse of spiritual technologies can often result in tragedy. I will be covering this case as it progresses, and looking at the long-term ramifications for all involved.

Lady Yeshe Rabbit, High Priestess of CAYA Coven, and the clergy of Come As You Are Coven, have issued a statement on the Amazon Priestess Tribe’s Rite of Lilith at PantheaCon 2011. This ritual served as the catalyst for the current ongoing discussions regarding gender, inclusion, and religious freedom.

“The Clergy of Come As You Are Coven wish to address the recent events and conversations regarding gender discrimination and the Amazon Priestess Tribe’s Rite of Lilith at PantheaCon 2011. It is our intention that this statement will a) open an inclusive, compassionate and respectful dialogue, b) shed light on some points that require clarity due to miscommunication, lack of communication, and misinterpretation, and c) help heal any deliberate or inadvertent pain caused by anyone along the spectrum of this emotionally-charged matter. Please accept the following offerings as an invitation to share in conversation as well as mutual understanding with us.”

Rather than try to summarize, I recommend everyone involved in this current discussion read the entire statement.

In addition, the organizers of PantheaCon have released the following short statement.

“PantheaCon 2011 is over, but one event held there has sparked an important discussion that is currently ongoing online in personal blogs and community spaces.  We have not yet started meeting to plan PantheaCon 2012 but many of us are keeping track of these online discussions.  We need to be sure that whatever decisions are made are the right ones, and as such we ask for patience and the space to ensure that we can find the best path forward.

We welcome your comments and concerns in the coming months.  Please feel free to email feedback@pantheacon.com with any information you would like us to have – we can’t guarantee a response, but someone will be reading anything that is sent to that address.  We appreciate the diversity of opinion and tradition that all of you bring to PantheaCon and we will do our absolute best to weigh the many alternatives and make the right decision.”

I will keep you appraised of further developments, reports, and statements as they come to me.

As I mentioned recently, Cherry Hill Seminary held the first graduation ceremony under their new program at the Sacred Space Conference in Maryland. On hand for the ceremony was a team from PNC-Washington DC (aka Capital Witch). They have put together this very nice video report.

“One of the first events of Sacred Space 2011 was hosting the first event graduation ceremony of Cherry Hill Seminary. Six students graduated from the ceremony with three in attendence. We had the chance to sit down with Cherry Hill staff and talk about the importance of the graduation and their work moving forward in the field of higher education for Pagans.”

Kudos to David and the team at PNC-Washington DC, and congratulations to the six Cherry Hill Seminary graduates! To find out more about CHS’s educational offerings, please check out their web site.

On Sunday I had very briefly mentioned a story regarding a Lilith ritual at PantheaCon in which transgendered women were turned away, and a subsequent discussion between Dianic Goddess worshipers and transgender advocates over the exclusion. I initially linked to a run-down of the issues, discussions, and conflicts from the perspective of Artifex Mentis (Sarah Thompson) a Witch and Ceremonial Magician who identifies as a transsexual woman. This resulted in quite a bit of intense discussion on my blog (which is now collected in a PDF file until I can get those comments properly restored) from a variety of perspectives. Initially, I was going to wait for the the Bay Area PNC bureau‘s forthcoming coverage before adding my own, but since my post on Sunday the discussion has spread throughout the Internet, and has included some incendiary commentary from a prominent Pagan elder.

First, let’s run down some of the essays, discussions, and opinions that are currently taking place around this issue.

• P. Sufenas Virius Lupus offers “PantheaCon and Gender Matters,” where he speaks about forms of gender identity and gender discrimination.
• Zaratha at Cultural Inappropriation speaks on “Truly Inclusive Gender-Based Mysteries”.
• Kenaz Filan weighs in with “Dianic Rites, Gender Identification and Gender Essentialism.”
• Lily Shahar Kunning’s “PantheaCon musings” speaks to the matter as an individual whose patroness is Lilith.
• Star Foster at Patheos.com offers “Transgender Issues in Pagan Religions.”
• Finally, Anya Kless, a priestess of Lilith, offers her own response.

It is in the comments for the post by Anya Kless where someone purporting to be Dianic elder  Z. Budapest offered the following.

“This struggle has been going since the Women’s Mysteries first appeared. These individuals selfishly never think about the following: if women allow men to be incorporated into Dianic Mysteries,What will women own on their own? Nothing! Again! Transies who attack us only care about themselves. We women need our own culture, our own resourcing, our own traditions. You can tell these are men, They don’t care if women loose the Only tradition reclaimed after much research and practice ,the Dianic Tradition. Men simply want in. its their will. How dare us women not let them in and give away the ONLY spiritual home we have! Men want to worship the Goddess? Why not put in the WORK and create your own trads. The order of ATTIS for example,(dormant since the 4rth century) used to be for trans gendered people, also the castrata, men who castrated themselves to be more like the Goddess. Why are we the ONLY tradition they want? Go Gardnerian!Go Druid! Go Ecclectic! Filled with women, and men. They would fit fine. But if you claim to be one of us, you have to have sometimes in your life a womb, and overies and MOON bleed and not die. Women are born not made by men on operating tables.“

This response has only further inflamed the controversy, as Erynn Rowan Laurie says: “Her response denies that transwomen are women at all, and treats them as male infiltrators attempting to usurp women’s mysteries in language that is actively offensive. What respect I had for her in the past has vanished in the face of this; it angers me and it makes me very sad, because it hurts so many people.” However, it is important to note, as Kenaz Filan does, that Z. Budapest’s commentary does not reflect the ongoing discussions currently going on between different parties over this issue.

“I have spoken with people who are close to both CAYA Coven and Pantheacon organizers.  Based on what I have heard so far, it appears that this all started out as a misunderstanding and miscommunication. While there is a lot of public ranting going on, there is a lot of discussion between the parties. Serious efforts are being made on all sides to discuss these issues respectfully and avoid similar incidents. Alas, things have now taken on a life of their own, and outside parties have come in to offer their opinions on the subject.”

Some comments from this discussion seem tailor-made to inflame and entrench both sides, throwing more heat than light. Despite this, I do think progress and real sharing can still happen. I still plan on following up with this issue, and speaking to individuals engaged on this discussion from as many perspectives as is feasible. I hope that as we move forward, we can avoid lashing out, or being hurtful, and find a workable way forward. More soon.