Invoking Brock’s Law and Wicca’s Almighty Creator

December 11, 2008 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 9 Comments

It’s somewhat rare to see Witch/Wiccan profiles during the winter, a time usually reserved for explorations of Christian and Jewish themes, but two papers have done just that. While most of these “meet the Witch” articles are exactly what you’d expect (We don’t eat babies or wear pointy hats!), you can often accidentally learn some interesting things about what prominent Pagans believe. For instance, the Great Lakes Advocate interviews author and reality television star Stacey Demarco (who, for the record, doesn’t like me all that much). In the piece Ms. Demarco invokes Brock’s Law and claims that us Pagans had it far worse than the Jews did.

“Witches have had a bad PR day for thousands of years. There were more people killed in the inquisitions than the holocaust.”

That is a sentence that needs some unpacking. First off, the different Inquisitions that spanned different eras mostly targeted Jews, and if she was mistakenly referencing the witch hunts of Early Modern Europe (aka “The Burning Times”) the modern scholarly estimates for deaths are far lower than the much-touted “9 million” (think 100,000 tops) of early feminist/Pagan lore. Add in the fact that the “barbarian conversions” of Europe were far more peaceful and gradual than most people think, and the myth of a “Pagan holocaust” becomes self-serving and pernicious. It is a meme that needs to be stamped out, and serves no purpose to the thriving modern Paganisms of today.

Turning from Ms. Demarco’s interview, we head to Miami and a profile of Sandra Cheryl Richardson, manager of Celestial Treasures Network in Coconut Grove and “Grand Elder High Priestess” of the Circle of Isis Rising. Richardson’s profile isn’t all that controversial or outside the norm for this kind of piece, but I did think one of her comments was worth taking note of.

“Richardson describes Wicca as a nature-based religion honoring seven holy powers, including an almighty Creator, gods and goddesses and the four elements.”

While Gerald Gardner did acknowledge a “Prime Mover”, he also said such an entity was “unknowable” and of “little concern” to the Witches, who preferred their “tribal” God and Goddess. An “almighty Creator” figure isn’t something I’ve encountered much in modern Wicca, which seems increasingly polytheistic in orientation and outlook. Perhaps Richardson was merely talking about her particular tradition and not for Wicca as a whole? That could be likely. Subtle theological distinctions can often get lost in journalistic translation. It does make me curious to know which Wiccan and Pagan traditions acknowledge a “Prime Mover”/”Unknown God”/”Almighty Creator” in their rites. Feel free to weigh in on this subject in our comments section.

As always, journalists don’t often get religion, and this goes double for faiths outside the mainstream. It is imperative that modern Pagans are as clear and accurate as possible. A throwaway line or passing thought could be misinterpreted as a central truth of your faith. Remember to keep it simple, steer clear of controversy (unless that’s your thing, then hey, go for it), and (if you can) vet the reporter asking for an interview before sitting down with them.

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Return of the Nine Million

July 14, 2008 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 4 Comments

Australian Gay and Lesbian website Same Same features an article by Jade Starr on the history of Catholic and Catholic-inspired persecutions that trots out some old “favorites” from within the Pagan community.

“Those who did not follow the Catholic ideals were deemed to be witches or heretics and were then persecuted from the late 1400s to early 1700s. It has been estimated that up to nine million people lost their lives during ‘The Burning Times’ but due to a lack of evidence the exact number is accepted as closer to 50,000 to 1 million. Many of these people, predominantly women, endured unfair trials and were subsequently incarcerated or burned alive at the stake for their so-called crimes against God. Not only were Pagan people segregated, tortured and murdered but they were also robbed of their rituals and practices, which are even now still used in modern Catholicism.”

As much as I like to call out the Catholic Church for their many misdeeds, the reality is that 40,000 – 60,000 victims in the span of 250 years is as high as your going to go, and those numbers are educated estimates. There is only definitive proof for around 12,000 deaths attributed to witch trials. Only one in 25,000 deaths was attributed to execution for witchcraft. While the “nine million” number is dramatic, I agree with Margot Adler when she says that:

“…it serves no end to perpetuate the miscalculation; it’s time to put away the exaggerated numbers forever.”.

Inventing a Pagan or women’s holocaust in no way helps our cause, or adds gravitas to our arguments against Christianity. Further, by the time of the witch trials in Early Modern Europe, there were no “Pagan people” to torture, imprison, or murder. While some may continue to argue for underground survivals from the pre-Christian era (a debate I’ll leave to others), by the 15th century Europe was solidly Christian in religious orientation, and the vast majority of “witches” considered themselves good Christians.

If one wants to criticize the Catholic Church, or Christianity in general, there are several excellent ways and reasons to do so. However, including false information only invalidates the entire argument.

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(Pagan) News of Note

January 30, 2008 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 1 Comment

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

GenQ Music interviews author, Witch, and reality television star Fiona Horne about her latest album “Witch Web”.

“I wrote the album with Paul Searles initially with the only intention being to record the songs that I personally sing in my witchy rituals. Often when doing public rituals I would sing acapella and people would ask if it was possible to buy a recording of it – now it is! But when Paul and I got in the studio we also realised we were starting to write songs that had a commercial feel and classic song arrangement, so we are happy that the album crosses over and can be enjoyed by people interested in the spiritual side as well as people who just want a chilled listening experience.”

Horne started her musical career as a singer for the dance-rock band Def FX. To listen to samples from “Witch Web” check out her MySpace page.

Ohio State University’s student paper, The Lantern, takes a look at interest in the occult on campus and discovers that OSU is the academic capital for magic in the United States.

“‘Ohio State has more scholars on the history of magic than any educational institution I’m aware of,’ said Sarah Iles Johnston, professor of Greek and Latin and director for the Center for the Study of Religion. There are six experts on the history of magic at OSU. They study the history of magic from a variety of perspectives such as its role in ancient Greek and Roman religions as well as in modern American culture.”

OSU recently hosted a lecture series to capitalize on their expertise entitled: “Through a Glass, Darkly: Public Interest in the Occult”. So for you Pagan high-school seniors trying to decide where to go for college, Ohio might be just the place for you (if your interested in studying magic that is).

Treadwells and Lastal both report that experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon will present seven films in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the union of Leila Waddell and Aleister Crowley.

“Experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon will present a live improvised set of 7 films. Each based on the individual rituals in British occultist Aleister Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis, first presented in Caxton Hall, London in 1910. Crowley based the rituals of Rites of Eleusis on each of the seven classical planets of antiquity – “Saturn”, “Jupiter”, “Mars”, “Sol” (the Sun), “Venus”, “Mercury” and “Luna”. Utilizing the entire text of Crowley’s rites as subliminal content Harmon will improvise the abstract layers of imagery to a prepared score. Presented in a 3 channel video environment Rites of Eleusis promises to be an updated public occult ritual for the 21st century.”

The performance will take place on Friday March 7th at The Horse Hospital (an arts venue) in London.

Classics professor Mary Beard bemoans the proposed removal of Britannia (the personification of the United Kingdom) from British coins.

“Britannia fits the bill rather nicely. An appropriately antique goddess, invented by the Romans, as a symbol of their new province, and used on British coins since the seventeenth century. If she goes, I don’t hold out much hope, long term, for that nice bit of Virgil (decus et tutamen — from Aeneid Book V) around the pound coin. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr Brown isn’t much of a fan of Latin.”

Will it be bad luck to remove Britain’s goddess from their coinage? Will she eventually join America’s Columbia as a half-forgotten relic from a grander time?

The Boston Globe publishes a visitors guide to Salem, Massachusetts that illustrates just how tied to witchcraft their tourism is.

“Witches put Salem on the Colonial map, and this historic North Shore city has its share of creepy and comical tributes to the practice of witchcraft. Magic supplies, herbal potions, tarot cards, “spell baskets,” custom-made capes – you’ll find them all here … Salem is loaded with museums, many of them funny-spooky places that document the city’s witchcraft history. Among them are the Witch History Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum, the Salem Witch Museum, the Salem Wax Museum, the Spellbound Museum, Salem’s Museum of Myths & Monsters, the New England Pirate Museum, and Salem’s 13 Ghosts…”

So despite those who wish to de-emphasize Salem’s “witchy” appeal, the town remains the “Witch City” of the east coast.

In a final note, a proposal has come forth on the Non-Fluffy Pagans community concerning a new “law” involving discussion about Witchcraft and society. An adage that some are calling the Witches’ equivalent to Godwin’s Law.

“In any discussion of the interaction of modern witches with the rest of society, as the length of the discussion increases, the probability of the mention of The Burning Times approaches unity.”

With the new law comes a proposed corollary:

“In any argument related to modern witchcraft, the first person to mention The Burning Times automatically loses the argument.”

The new law has been dubbed “Brock’s Law” after the author.

That is all I have for now, have a great day!

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