There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans out there, sometimes more than I can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up.

• For her Patheos column, T. Thorn Coyle weighs in on the Occupy Wall Street movement, recalling her time working at the Pacific Stock Options Exchange. Quote: “The Occupy movement is a movement about material things: jobs, food, housing, money. For me, this makes the Occupy movement about spiritual things. There is spirit in the movement, and the spirit moves through bodies of flesh in a world of matter: concrete, grass, buildings. There is no separation between the spirit and the matter, only our minds make it so.”
• While I’m on the subject of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Minnesota-based Pagan band Murphey’s Midnight Rounders has recorded, “Hard Times, Come Again No More,” in honour of the occupiers. You can download it for free, here.
  
• Also at Patheos, the ever-erudite P. Sufenas Virius Lupus marks Tuesday’s National Coming Out Day, and asks if there’s such a thing as a “gay” or “queer” god. Quote: “For the majority of polytheistic cultures throughout world history, the various categories into which deities could be sorted—chthonic or ouranic, immanent or distant, universal or local, and many more besides—did not include ‘queer’ and ‘not-queer.’”
• The Pagan-themed Russian film “Silent Souls” is coming to Washington DC at the end of October. For more American screening dates, click here. Check out the trailer.
• PNC-Texas interviews the Reverend Meg Barnhouse, the new settled minister of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin. Quote: “It was really through that Pagan aspect of Unitarian Universalism that I came into the ministry. While I consider myself and name myself a Unitarian Universalist, I deeply value the earth-based way of seeing things, along with earth-based elements of worship. I am very grateful to the Pagans for bringing me in and introducing me to UUism, so I feel a lot of affection for the Pagan element in our movement.”
• NY Daily News spotlights Latina authors who incorporate Santeria, Palo, and Brujeria themes in their work. Lyn Di Iorio, author of the new novel “Outside the Bones,” Ana-Maurine Lara, author of “Erzulie’s Skirt”, and “When the Spirits Dance Mambo” by Marta Moreno Vega, among others.
• The New Apostolic Reformation apparently want the website Talk To Action “silenced” (through prayer).
• Rob Boston from Americans United gives us an inside look at the recent Values Voter Summit. Quote: “Despite their prejudices, despite their fears – despite the fact that in many ways, Religious Right leaders don’t seem to like America much (too decadent, too secular) – this is a group with friends in high places, a political movement with enough muscle to summon top congressional leaders; they are a constituency that cannot be ignored. They must be given things.”
• The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions is holding a webinar featuring Christopher Peters, President and CEO of Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development – a Native lead Indigenous Peoples public Foundation. Peters will be giving a talk entitled “Native American Earth-Based Spirituality.” The webinar will be held on November 9th. You can register, here.
• In a final note, the US American Council of Witches has issued a clarification on a statement made in my interview with Council member Kenny Klein about their plans and goals. Quote: “I wish to clarify one point. We were never notified by the US Army to revise their manual. We have been contacted from several Federal and State’s to create a manual/guide for them to utilize when dealing with a person who falls under the: Pagan/Wicca ~ Natural Earth Religions. We shall use the Army’s Manual as a guide only. A copy of which will be distributed to ALL Services(Navy, Marines etc…, ALL Federal Government offices, Every State Government office, ALL Federal prison’s, ALL State’s prisons, ALL County’s Jails(in each state), ALL Chaplains in ALL the Hospitals in all states…….. So we are looking at around probably 10,000 books/manuals/guides. We are probably underestimating ourselves. A complete listing will be on our web page when it is operational.”

That’s it for now! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of these I may expand into longer posts as needed.

In 1973 Carl Llewellyn Weschcke, owner and chairman of Llewellyn Worldwide, shortly after his initiation into the American Celtic tradition of Witchcraft by Lady Sheba, helped organize the American Council of Witches (aka the Council of American Witches). The group would convene and disband in 1974, partially due to internal divisions and debates, but before it did they published the Thirteen Principles of Belief (aka Principles of Wiccan Belief). Meant as a general set of principles that all groups participating at the time could agree with, that material was subsequently incorporated into the 1978 edition of the Army’s military chaplain’s handbook thanks to Dr. J. Gordon Melton (the material was revised in the 1980s and 1990s, with input from groups like COG and Lady Liberty League). Now this group is attempting to rise from the ashes as the US American Council of Witches.

“We are an independent group of members who each follow a Natural Earth Religion or Tradition. Who shall gather together in interfaith dialog, to redraft a set of Common Principles, Mission Statement, Purpose, Revision of the Army’s Manual and a possible revision of the The Thirteen Principles Of Belief.”

The nascent council has already issued a press release outlining its goals and mission.

Newly Formed Group Defends Witchcraft Rights And Beliefs

The United States is a nation whose very foundation, the Bill of Rights, guarantees its citizens freedom of religious beliefs. Yet those citizens with beliefs that fall well outside of Christianity are often misunderstood and persecuted. There seems to be a rising voice in American politics that non-Christian beliefs are somehow less valid than Christian beliefs. One arena where we have seen this is the attack on our President by those claiming he is Muslim, which they appear to believe invalidates his ability to lead our nation. Another arena is such outspoken organizations as David Barton’s Wallbuilders, who advocate a Federal acceptance that the Unites States is a Christian nation.

In light of these attacks upon our basic religious freedoms, members of the community of Pagans, Wiccans, Witches, and other polytheists have united to re-form the American Council of Witches. First formed in 1973, the Council was a group of over seventy Witches and Pagans who drafted a set of principles outlining the common practices of Neopagan religions in North America. This statement was adopted by the Unites States Army for inclusion in their Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains in 1978.

Though the Council was disbanded in 1974, individuals who each follow a Pagan, Neopagan or Witchcraft Tradition feel it is time to reform the organization in order to achieve certain goals that were not addressed by the original council in the early Seventies. Among these goals are: to revise the original council’s Thirteen Principles of Belief Common Among NeoPagans; to re-submit revisions to the United States Army Handbook for Chaplains; to provide government and law enforcement on Federal, State and County levels with information on NeoPagan beliefs and practices to be used in creating and upholding laws, allowing NeoPagans their Constitutional rights, and ministering to the beliefs of Pagan inmates.

The revised American Council Of Witches will be composed of Pagans,Wiccans, Witches and other NeoPagan practitioners from each of the fifty United States. We will engage in an interfaith dialogue to identify and address the legal and social needs of members of our religions, and we will create policy and documents as deemed necessary. And we hope to dialogue with members of other faiths to foster a basic understanding of our beliefs.

For information, interviews and membership, please contact: usamericancouncilofwitches@yahoo.com

Wanting more information, I contacted them, and spoke with Wiccan author and musician Kenny Klein, a member of the new Council.

Kenny Klein

Are there any links between this new ACW and the original body?

The new Council was organized primarily at a request from the U.S. Army to update the Army Chaplains Handbook, whose Wiccan/Pagan statement was written by the original council. Oberon Zell served on the original body, and will be involved with the current body. Isaac’s widow, Phaedra, has also had input. Other members of the original body may be contacted as well.

Who is organizing this effort? Who’s driving it? Have any Pagan organizations/religious institutions endorsed your plans?

The original effort was organized by Chicago area Witch Kaye Berry, who was handed the request from the U.S. Army (I believe from Oberon). Kaye began contacting Witches and Pagans whom she believed would make valuable contributions to the effort. I was contacted early on, and felt this was a worthy project. I have been helping to identify Witches who are leaders in the Pagan/Witch community who might be assets to the project. Our current goal is to bring thirteen core members in as a board. Ultimately we will bring in a representative for each state in the U. S. Of this number, it is my own personal goal to see representation of the major traditions of Wicca and other Pagan practices, and also voices of less structured practices.

You mention Pagans and polytheists in addition to Witches and WIccans, does that mean the group is open to non-Witches?

That is correct. The word Witch may have served the mission statement of the original 1973 board, but the Pagan community has diversified greatly since then. While we continue to use a variant of the original name, we feel that the service and input of members representing the entire Pagan community is of the utmost value to our efforts.

Do you have any specific outreach/interfaith initiatives planned at this time?

At this time our goal is to identify the thirteen core members, and to begin organizing committees to work on our three primary objectives (see below). We do have a Facebook page, which has been receiving a good number of hits. We feel this will generate an interest in the organization. We will begin to plan outreach once our initial goals have been met, which will include the creation of a website, and representation at major and regional Pagan events.

Please note our three initial objectives for the council:

• Revision of the original statement in the Army Handbook for Chaplains
• Redrafting a set of Common Principles, updating the set of principles drafted by the original Council
• Revision of the The Thirteen Principles Of Belief drafted by the original Council

–

For those wanting to get involved, or follow their progress, you can do so at their Facebook page. No doubt they’ll be in touch with present day active Pagan organizations like COG, Circle Sanctuary, the ADF, the Troth, and others, as things move along. I will be following their progress with interest.

We all had a good laugh about “Jesus Ween,” didn’t we? That misguided attempt to sanctify a day that had already been sanctified by the Catholic church way back in 609 CE, rightly mocked by Christians and Pagans alike. But the impulse to cleanse Halloween of its (perceived) Pagan/occult atmosphere has a darker side. If the “Ween-ers” are the Ned Flanders of anti-Halloween sentiments, then the followers of “spiritual warrior”/survivalist/conspiracy theorist Thomas R. Horn are a Jack T. Chick comic come to life. Just in time for Halloween they are plugging a new book entitled “God’s Ghostbusters” (buy it before the world ends!) that ramps up the fear of Pagans.

“According to a group of Christian scholars, this comes as the world is experiencing an explosion of ancient occultism combined with wicked fascination for ghosts and all things paranormal. In the United States alone, there are now more than two hundred thousand registered witches, the group claims, and as many as 8 million unregistered practitioners of “the craft.” On college and high school campuses, vampires, werewolves, and other “creatures of the night” are esteemed as objects of desire and idolized by young men and women who view them as cult icons of envious mystical power. Evidently, church goers are enchanted by the darkness as well. An April 13, 2011 article “Mysticism Infecting Nazarene Beliefs” was preceded only a few days before by a Telegraph article describing how a “surge in Satanism” inside the church has sparked a “rise in demand for exorcists” within traditional religious settings.”

This is serious business!

Eight million! Jeepers! I also want to know how one becomes a “registered” Witch. Do I have to join COG for that? Circle? We again get references to that shadowy organization known only as a “group of Christian scholars”. Why won’t these brave men and women show themselves (and their statistical data)? Conservative Christians (and some Pagans) have long over-estimated the size of the modern Pagan movement for various reasons, but this is the first time I’ve seen an estimate that large. I suppose extrapolating data from ARIS or the Pew Forum (or any other reputable source) won’t sell as many books (or survivalist equipment). They also have an odd obsession with Hekate (which, I suppose is an improvement over “Samhain Lord of the Dead”).

“Whereas Hecate was elsewhere known as Hecate-Propylaia, “the one before the gate,” a role in which she guarded the entrances of homes and temples from nefarious outside evils (talk about Satan casting out Satan!); and whereas she was also known as Hecate-Propolos, “the one who leads,” as in the underworld guide of Persephone and of those who inhabit graveyards; and finally whereas she was known as Hecate-Phosphoros, “the light bearer,” her most sacred title and one that recalls another powerful underworld spirit, Satan, whose original name was Lucifer (“the light bearer”); it was nevertheless her role as the feminist earth-goddess-spirit Hecate-Chthonia that popularized her divinity and commanded reverence from among the common people. [...] The connection between ancient paganism and the modern customs and costumes of Halloween is easy to trace. The Hecatian myths adopted by Celtic occultists continue in pop culture, symbolism, and tradition…”

They hate/fear/are secretly aroused by Pagan deities so much they’re willing to give away Horn’s book on the subject [PDF]. In it, you can learn of the many ways Pagan gods still walk the earth and how modern Paganism is a sign of Armageddon (for which you’ll need to stock up on survivalist kits).

As I said before, these people are the dark reflection of the Jesus Ween-ers. Who take the idea of occult infiltration of America to its tinfoil-helmet-wearing conclusions. They want to get as many people in their Ark/underground Christian bunker as possible before our prophesied take-over happens. It’s easy (and fun) to mock this stuff, but a significant number of ordinary, decent, people are susceptible to narratives like these. It’s why I’m so critical of books about Pagans written for Christians, because they all feed a narrative that is ultimately damaging to interfaith relations and their own children. I’m more than happy to let Horn and his followers dig trenches and scare each other with spooky stories of Hekate’s minions, but I’m more concerned by the innocent Goth/Pagan/GLBT/different kids who might be damaged when their propaganda gets passed around at a local church or Christian book store. That’s when it crosses the line into being dangerous and damaging to our society.

Last week the government of Peru issued a statement saying that fourteen shamans in the country’s north-eastern region have been killed in the span of twenty months. The provincial prosecutor’s office alleges that these killings were ordered by Alfredo Torres, the mayor of Balsa Puerto, and carried out by his brother. Author and indigenous leader Roger Rumrrill claims these killings are part of a wider witch-hunt by the brothers, who are members of an unnamed protestant Christian sect.

“The provincial prosecutor’s office said that the murders were allegedly ordered by the mayor of Balsa Puerto, Alfredo Torres, and carried out by his brother, Augusto, locally known as “the witch hunter.” Only seven bodies have been found, however —either shot, stabbed or hacked with machetes. The seven other shamans have been reported missing. Rogger Rumrill, a leading researcher on Amazonian issues, said the murders are related to “protestant sects” that Torres and his brother belong to, the daily said. “For these protestant sects, the shamans are people possessed by demons, so they have to be killed,” Rumrill said.”

Torres denies these allegations, saying the shamans, all 14 of them, were killed by vengeful families unhappy with their services.

“For many years they have practiced the ancient custom of killing the witches, making them responsible for the death of some family member who was receiving treatment from the shaman.”

The shamans, all from the Shaui community, were planning to start an association to share knowledge. The Foundation for Shamanic Studies has called for supporters to contact Peruvian authorities, asking them to act in addressing these atrocities, and to prevent further murders. Things have been tense, to say the least, between indigenous communities and the Peruvian government, but that has shifted somewhat as the South American “pink tide” sweeps through Peru, bringing center-left politician Ollanta Humala to power. While Humala is no Evo Morales, the fact that the government is making these allegations seems to be a positive sign that some sort of investigation is underway. What we don’t know is how much religion, specifically these “protestant sects,” are involved. While I won’t rule out religiously-motivated violence, I think the political implications of the shamans forming an association could also have something to do with it.

We’ll keep you posted as any further updates come our way. My thanks to Andras Corban-Arthen for bringing this to my attention.

ADDENDUM: The Guardian confirms that the Peruvian government is sending a team of investigators. Quote Gregor MacLennan at the NGO Amazon Watch: “The death of these shamans represents not just a tragic loss of life, but the loss of a huge body of knowledge about rainforest plants and the crucial role shamans play in traditional medicine and spiritual guidance in indigenous communities.” Also, this blog post gives some excellent background on the killings.

“One of those who must die, however, survived. Inuma Bautista, apu shawi community of Paradise, was ambushed, but survived a machete attack that cost him an arm and left deep scars on the body. That was probably the beginning of the media scandal. After recovering from the wounds, gave a testimony Inuma which directly accuses Augusto Torres, brother of Mayor Balsapuerto as one of those who wanted to kill him. Similarly, one of the alleged gunmen, Solomon Napo, appeared in a video, confessing his involvement in the death of Mariano Apuela. Among his statements, the figure having been hired by Torres brother to commit the act in exchange for five thousand nuevos soles, which were not delivered.”

More on this as I find it.

I truly admire it when public figures bluntly state their true views on a subject. There is so much hedging, retracting, and re-positioning in modern politics that it can be hard to pin down anyone on anything. So when Robert Jeffress, pastor of the 10,000-strong First Baptist Church of Dallas, introduced and endorsed presidential contender Rick Perry at the Values Voters Summit it was something of a jolt to hear him publicly proclaim what many Christians secretly profess.

“That is a mainstream view, that Mormonism is a cult,” Jeffress told reporters here. “Every true, born again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian.”

There it is: “Every true, born again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian.” That’s the bottom line. No matter how conservative you are, how in-line your values are with the Republican party, a massive chunk of the grass-roots and conservative king-makers won’t embrace you if you aren’t (the right kind of) Christian. As Andrew Sullivan says, “If you turn a political party into a church, as the GOP essentially now is, sectarianism will eventually emerge.” There is only one exception to this “don’t vote for non-Christians” rule, and that is if the only choice is between Romney and Obama.

“I’m going to instruct, I’m going to advise people that it is much better to vote for a non-Christian who embraces biblical values than to vote for a professing Christian like Barack Obama who embraces un-biblical values.”

Of course many conservative Christians have been trying to make the argument that Obama isn’t actually a Christian for years now. So in their minds it would be non-Christian vs non-Christian (In which case thumbs-up Romney? I guess?).

According to a Pew poll, 68% of Americans are ready to vote for a Mormon president. That support or understanding is built on a “big tent” view of Christianity. If Mormons are just another flavor of Christianity, then it’s OK to vote for them (and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been on a charm offensive for years). However, that support evaporates if you aren’t seen as religious. 61% of voters see atheism as a negative when considering a candidate, no doubt numbers are similar if you have religion but are part of a “cult” and not seen as part of the Judeo-Christian mainstream. As Jeffress would say: “Private citizens can impose all kinds of religious tests.” As it stands now a third of white evangelical Protestants (34%) say they are less likely to support a Mormon. That may not seem like a lot, but it’s a potentially damaging percentage when you take into account the fact that more than half of Republicans are evangelicals.

This is a problem for the Republicans. Not because they prefer Christians, but because Christianity is losing its hold on America, or “softening” as Duke Divinity School professor Mark Chaves would put it. If you become the party of “Christians only” (outside of rare exceptions) you’re setting yourself up for long-term demographic irrelevance. As Americans become more comfortable with atheists, agnostics, and minority religions, the more a political party whose grass-roots demand theological purity suffers. Right now we are in a place where it seems only a Christian (or possibly a Jew) could be elected president, but as the calculus changes, the groups that are more agile in embracing a post-Christian future will ultimately benefit.

There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans out there, sometimes more than I can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up.

• As the Occupy Wall Street movement goes nationwide, bureau reporters from the Pagan Newswire Collective have been covering the protests from a Pagan perspective. PNC-Minnesota reporter Cara Schulz attends the OccupyMN protests and asks: “Who are the 99%”. Meanwhile, Diana Rajchel interviews Aldous Tyler, a Pagan presidential hopeful who’s aligning himself with the Occupy movement. At PNC-Washington DC they feature a guest post from local Pagan Nicole Franklin, who attended the protests in New York. You may also want to check out the personal experiences of Erynn Rowan Laurie, who attended the Occupy Seattle action. We’ll try to keep you posted regarding reports from Pagans participating in this growing phenomenon.
• Right Wing Watch reports that Mitt Romney did, in fact, albeit without actually naming him, call out the bigotry of Bryan Fischer at the Values Voters Summit. Quote: “One of the speakers who will follow me today, has crossed that line I think. Poisonous language does not advance our cause. It has never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind. The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate.” While I wish that Romney had gone further, and actually declared that minority religions (like his) deserved, and are, protected under the United States constitution, I will still acknowledge this as bold forward step for the candidate.
• In related Values Voters Summit news, they have a simple message to attendees: “Don’t be the weird one.”
• Earlier this week PNC-Minnesota reported that Volkshof Kindred, a Heathen 501c3 organization located in the Twin Cities, recently purchased a building to be used as a Hof. The group says this is the first dedicated, group-owned, public heathen Hof (temple building) in North America.  The residential building, which the group is currently renovating, is located in a northern Minneapolis suburb.
• The Supreme Court is expected to soon announce whether they will hear a case regarding large metal crosses in Utah erected along the highway to honor state highway patrol officers who died in the line of duty. At the heart of this issues is if the Christian cross can be considered a secular symbol of death. The 10th Circuit Court rejected this notion, noting the obvious fact that a Christian symbol cannot represent all peoples and religions in the United States. We’ll be keeping track of this one.
• A group of journalists and bloggers who cover the Religious Right, Dominionism, and the New Apostolic Reformation, have sent an open letter to evangelical moderate Jim Wallis objecting to his assertions that they are portraying evangelical Christians as “intellectually-flawed right-wing crazies with dangerous plans for the country.” They also take issue with Wallis endorsing an editorial by Mark I. Pinsky that engages in what they see as anti-Semitic slurs.
• An Australian wedding ends in a local Witch being attacked by her drunken neighbor (who was also the bride). The neighbors apparently had a long-running feud, and too much alcohol brought out the worst in her. More, here.
• Slacktivist spotlights yet another terrible idea in alternative Halloween celebrations for Christians: Jesus Ween. No, really. Don’t they know that the neighbors who hand out Chick tracts and related fare are the ones targeted for egging later?
• Kilkenny People profiles Eimear Burke, a trained psychotherapist, priestess and Druid.
• Two years later, the Prescott Daily Courier checks in with various figures connected to the deadly sweat lodge ceremony held by New Age guru James Arthur Ray.  As for Ray himself, the long-delayed pre-sentencing hearing is finally set to begin on November 8th.

That’s it for now! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of these I may expand into longer posts as needed.

This week has seen an unusually high number of high-profile deaths, from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs to civil rights icon Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, but perhaps lost among the many (deserved) tributes and remembrances are two other figures who have had an indirect but palpable influence on modern Pagan culture: Bert Jansch and Diane Cilento. Jansch, who died on Wednesday from lung cancer was a hugely influential guitarist and founding member of the British folk-rock band Pentangle. Pentangle, along with Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, and Nick Drake were part of a movement that re-contextualized and reinvigorated folk music and tradition in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They also, as historian Rob Young notes, had striking parallels with the emerging British Witchcraft traditions, and ended up providing an inspirational soundtrack for the nascent movement.

“In terms of their status in popular understanding, British Pagan Witchcraft and folk music are strikingly similar. Both are believed, even by many of the people who practice them, to afford a link to the distant medieval past or pre-Christian antiquity, but many of their identifying features are actually relatively modern inventions.”

Bert Jansch

During his career Jansch recorded at least 25 albums and toured consistently, inspiring Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Johnny Marr of The Smiths with his unique guitar style. Towards the end of his career he collaborated with contemporary artists like Hope Sandoval (of Mazzy Star), Beth Orton and Devendra Banhart, inspiring a new generation of psych-folk and “freak” folk performers. Still, to many of us, he’ll be remembered as part of that band with the pentagram logo, which, along with the mythological and folkloric themes in their music, was more than enough to consider them one of “our” bands in the Pagan movement’s early stirrings. For his deep contributions to music, and for all those he inspired, Bert Jansch will live on for generations to come.

Another death that will have reverberations among many modern Pagans is the passing of actress Diane Cilento, famous to many as the first wife of Sean Connery, but beloved to us as “Miss Rose” in the 1973 cult-classic film “The Wicker Man”.

Cilento would go on to marry “Wicker Man” writer Anthony Shaffer, and was a spiritual seeker who eventually studied Sufism.

Diane Cilento

“It doesn’t really matter what basically the religion is, it’s all the same thing. It’s all oneness. And I don’t think you can divorce or segregate or pigeonhole life in that way much. It is just life, and poetry’s part of that.”

Cilento was also the mother of Jason Connery, who played the second Robin Hood in the Pagan-drenched English series “Robin of Sherwood.” Her role in creating a “microcosm of what sacred and profane life in a village might be like if Christianity had never been imported to the Isles” will forever endear her to generations of modern Pagans. May her spirit be united with the oneness she sought in life.