• This week Elysia at Llewellyn tackled the thorny issue of Pagan/metaphysical book piracy after discovering a site distributing PDF copies of 32 Llewellyn titles. Several emails and one DMCA notice later, the content was taken down, but not before the pirate did her level best to paint herself as the Robin Hood of Wiccan literature. Quote: “How shall I educate the poor, the disenfranchised, without the books?” Considering how easy it is to get a hold of Pagan books these days, far easier than it has ever been in any point of our modern history, the argument that book pirates are performing a noble service rings increasingly hollow. If someone is truly concerned about saving and spreading information then they should work with authors and publishers, instead of illegally bypassing them.
• Did you know that Hungary’s center-right government passed a new constitution? It’s true! Despite criticism, both local and international, the Prime Minister, whose party commands an overwhelming majority, remains unrepentant. One of the laws passed under this new constitution greatly restricts official recognition of religion. Now, only 14 Christian and Jewish faiths are officially recognized, and the hurdle for additions to that list is high. One wonders what will become of the many Hungarian Pagan organizations, have any of them applied for government recognition? I’ll be keeping an eye on this issue.
• The U.N. Human Rights Office has publicly criticized the government of Saudi Arabia for its increase in executions, for not meeting international trial standards, and for using torture to gain confessions. Saudi Arabia has made the news several times here for its willingness to kill men and women for the crimes of “sorcery” and “witchcraft”. Will outside international pressure make a difference? Recently, a Saudi princess living in London blasted her country’s religious police, saying they had a “dangerous effect” on society.
• Richard Bartholomew reports that controversial Nigerian Pentecostal preacher Helen Ukpabio is returning to America, there the infamous witch-hunter will meet with her Western backers. Ukpabio’s particular “gospel” includes propagandistic “expository”  horror films featuring witchcraft possessed children, and selling non-fiction religious titles like “Unveiling The Mysteries of Witchcraft” that make assertions about the reality of child witches. Think this madness can’t spread? Tell that to Kristy Bamu, a teenage boy in the UK who was tortured for days (along with his siblings) and then drowned by his family after they accused him of sorcery. Make no mistake, when the reckoning for the African witch-hunts finally comes, more than a few fingers will be pointing at Western churches and missionaries.
• Is New Age guru James Arthur Ray, currently in prison after being convicted of negligent homicide after leading a fatal sweat lodge ceremony in 2009, broke? That’s his claim, and he wants a judge to declare him indigent and appoint him a public defender for his already-filed appeal. The judge couldn’t come to a decision, and prosecutors want to know about his many declared assets. Is this a ploy by Ray, or has his empire crumbled already?
• The ongoing Dorje Shugden controversy within Tibetan Buddhism continues as the Dalai Lama recently urged his followers to not follow the deity, saying that “after knowing and understanding the harmful impacts of worshipping the deity, it is my responsibility to urge my devotees not to follow it”. The debate comes down to whether the Dorje Shugden is a Dharma protector or a “worldly spirit” (in which case the entity is not fit for veneration within Buddhism). From the outside, the issue is a fascinating look into how Tibetan Buddhism navigates the realm between polytheism and non-theism.
• PNC-Minnesota has started an interview series with Pagan polyarmorous families. The second installment was posted on Friday, and interviews Johnny, who’s in a poly relationship with two other women, and is the father of triplets. Quote: “We are a nuclear family. We went through the pregnancy together and are raising the kids together. We share the bills together.  Everything that the traditional nuclear family does, we do together, except there are three of us.” You can read The Wild Hunt’s coverage on the intersections between polyamory and modern Paganism, here.
• Did you know the Queen of Heaven is behind same-sex marriage? Well, all acts of love and pleasure are her rituals…
• Jury selection is under way in the trial of Gerald Field of Massachusetts, who is accused of raping and imprisoning a woman for five days. It seems that Mr. Field follows a “Nordic pagan religion” and his lawyer is asking jurors if that, and his “alleged anti-Semitic remarks” would prejudice them in a trial. Mr. Field better pray to his gods that none of his fellow Heathens get picked for the jury, as most Heathens I’ve met don’t take kindly to their faith being drawn through the mud by alleged rapists.
• Show me on the doll where the demonic realm touched you.
• Finally, congrats again to the Open Hearth Foundation in Washington DC on the opening of their new community center! Check out this video from PNC-Washington DC on the event.

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.

• Beliefnet News runs a story on an upcoming Washington DC Pagan event, “a protest to the New Apostolic Reformation’s 51-day prayer campaign targeting Pagans, Wiccans, Witches, Druids, Heathens, and other Goddess-worshipers nationwide.” The press release from event organizer Caroline Kenner probably got picked up thanks to a pull-quote provided by the Reverend Barry Lynn of Americans United. You can read more about the nation-wide Hail Columbia campaign, here. More on this specific event, here, and here. I plan to have a guest post from one of the Hail Columbia coordinators very soon, so stay tuned!
• Theater professor and local witch-trial reenactor Kristina Stevick makes peace with Salem being the “Witch City”. Quote: “We recruit audiences from Salem’s modern streets and, in the process, get an interesting view of our City of Peace. We’ve seen shouting matches and fistfights between business owners and their mascots. We’ve been “hexed” by competitors, and we (along with other businesses) have been the recipients of a literal door “prize” of dead animals.”
• The Associated Press reports on the spread of the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) in the United States. Quote: “In the last decade or so, this traditional Latin American holiday with indigenous roots has spread throughout the U.S. along with migration from Mexico and other countries where it is observed. Not only are U.S.-born Latinos adopting the Day of the Dead, but various underground and artistic non-Latino groups have begun to mark the Nov. 1-2 holidays through colorful celebrations, parades, exhibits and even bike rides and mixed martial arts fights.” Some examples of how the United States has adopted the Day of the Dead: here, here, and here.
• The Atlanta Journal Constitution has run an obituary of Wiccan elder David White (aka Lord Merlin). Star Foster, a member of White’s tradition, previously noted his passing. White was an elder high priest of the Ravenwood tradition for almost three decades. Lord Merlin was the longtime consort and companion of Lady Sintana, who passed away a year ago.
• The BBC has a report on the growing popularity of Maria Lionza’s cult in Venezuela. Here’s an audio slideshow from last year of the goddess’ worshipers. The toppling of a Maria Lionza statues in 2004 was one of the first things I every blogged about here at The Wild Hunt.
• More ‘War on Halloween’ nonsense from Linda Harvey. Harvey is founder of Mission:America, and author of  “Not My Child: Contemporary Paganism & the New Spirituality”. So she’s not really down with dialog and interfaith communication. More on the this trend from Jason Mankey.
• The growing veneration of Guanyin in South Alabama. The growing veneration of Maria Lionza in Venezuela. The exploding veneration of Mary in Wisconsin. Do you sense a theme here? I sure do.
• Native journalist Tim Giago ponders: Why did Native American people convert to a foreign religion? Quote: “I am still left with the question that has bothered me all of my life: Why did so many indigenous people convert to the religions that came from a foreign land with a Bible in which not one indigenous tribe in the Western Hemisphere is ever mentioned?”
• T. Thorn Coyle’s recently announced subscription video teaching series entitled Fiat LVX now has an introductory video you can watch. Check it out!
• The Infamous Brad shares the secret origin of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
• Did you listen to the first episode of the re-launched, live, episode of the Modern Witch Podcast? If not, you should! Featuring an interview with the ever-erudite Jonathan Korman.
• Heathen Steven Abell discusses Mormonism, politics, Christianity, and the veracity of religious teachings.

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.

• Not too long ago hardliner Iranian clerics accused associates of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of “witchcraft” and “summoning genies.” If you’re President Ahmadinejad how do you respond to that? By launching a “non-governmental organisation to identify those engaged in divination and exorcism as well as ‘deviant schools of thought and false Gnosticism’”. They are hoping an attack on “nonconformist youth culture, Sufi sects, [and] non-Islamic Gnostic groups such as popular Indian theosophical cults” will distract the public from their own “occult” scandal.
• Kathryn Price NicDhàna links to a transcription of the closing prosecution arguments in the almost finished trial of New Age prosperity guru James Arthur Ray, accused of negligent homicide in the deaths of three participants in a sweat lodge ceremony gone horribly wrong. For a wrap-up of the marathon closing argument by Ray’s defense team, click here. Once we have a verdict you can expect a long wrap-up with commentary at The Wild Hunt.
• The Tarotpuu blog reprints a 1942 lecture by artist and occultist Lady Frieda Harris, who is best known for providing the artwork for Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot. Thanks to Mary K. Greer for the link.
• Mississippi Justice Court Judge Theresa Brown Dearman has been sanctioned by Mississippi Supreme Court for, among other things, “ordering someone to attend church, on pain of being sent to jail if he doesn’t comply.” It seems, thankfully, that compulsory worship is still unconstitutional.
• Juxtapoz finds some occult-themed street art. More here.
• Salon.com travel column Trazzler (Trazzler? Really?) features a slide show of places to celebrate tomorrow’s Summer Solstice. They note that “the primal desire to be outside dancing and carousing late into the night is irrepressible at this time of year.”
• K.C. Hulsman updates us on the ongoing effort to to have the U.S. Army recognize and add Asatru/Heathenry as a religious preference for the official U.S. Army database. This is being spearheaded by the Open Halls Project, who says they need “one thing from you, the soldiers, former soldiers, and military spouses. We need you to send use your name, rank, Status (active, reserves, national guard, veteran, or spouse) to our email. heathenopenhalls@gmail.com” So spread the word!
• PZ Myers infamously doesn’t like religion or the belief in magic all that much, but he seems pretty OK with Alan Moore. In response The Daily Grail calls Moore “one huge gateway drug to the woo,” while  Technoccult thinks the real question may be “whether what he describes as magic is truly ‘magic’ at all.” All I know is that “Promethea” is one of the best comics ever.
• Ann Coulter rips into Ron Paul, and uses Wicca to illustrate her point about Paul’s marriage plan: “Under Rep. Paul’s plan, your legal rights pertaining to marriage will be decided on a case-by-case basis by judges forced to evaluate the legitimacy of your marriage consecrated by a Wiccan priest — or your tennis coach.” This makes it so Paul’s defenders have to mention Wicca too. Keep this up and soon every prominent conservative will be dropping Wicca into their conversations.
• Our best wishes to the on retreat Buddhists at the  Diamond Mound Retreat Center near Bowie, Arizona, who are currently right in the path of the Arizona wildfires.

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.

The joint session with the Religion and Ecology Group, “Elemental Theology and Feminist Earth Practices,” will feature a panel discussion with groundbreaking feminist theologian Rosemary R. Ruether and Reclaiming co-founder Starhawk. In addition, other sessions will see paper presentations from Helen Berger, Christopher W. Chase, and Christine Kraemer (a department chair at Cherry Hill Seminary) among others. All that is in addition to the thousands of other presentations on just about every facet of religious experience you can think of. I will be there this November to cover the event, and hope to bring you special reporting, interviews, and access to a gathering few outside the world of religion studies experience.

In Other News:

• Berkeley-based Sunrise Bookshop is going out of business, part of larger trend in the area of metaphysical shops closing down. The recent downturn in the economy is blamed as the “final blow” that made the business unsustainable.
• Al Jigen Billings and Catherine Kehl have launched a new project entitled Pagan Dharma, “a site that looks at the Dharma, the teachings and way of being derived from the Buddha, from the point of view of being a pagan, in whatever loose sense we want to define that.” Looks like it might become a great resource for the many Pagans out there interested in Buddhism, or utilizing Buddhist practices.
• The battle over regulating Yoga in Texas heats up.
• Is the New Apostolic Reformation starting to make more traditional Christian conservatives nervous?
• Is Paganism an expostmodern religious movement?

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

My trip to Thailand and the Island of Java at the invitation of the Dhammakaya Buddhists was very successful. I believe it has opened new doors for us and will lead to both a greater understanding between the Buddhist and Pagan communities and increased mutual respect. With that said, it is also important to note that I am not the only Pagan working with other religions and cultures to create partnerships. There are a number of individuals who have stepped up for this work, and I fully honor them and their dedication. It is my strong belief that building these bridges based on common values allows not only a better understanding of our Pagan traditions by others, but more importantly creates the framework for dialogue and action between us and our new partners to stop the rampant destruction of our planet and to counter ideologies that exploit and commodify our fellow human beings. I would also like to point out that all of my interactions as I do this work, stress the importance of each party maintaining their own individual beliefs and spirituality while at the same time acknowledging the sacredness of the other. All of that said, I would now like to share a few high points of my trip and some of the experiences I had on this incredible journey.

Patrick McCollum and High Lamas at Borbodour.

I would first like to say, that I was very well received as a Pagan by the Buddhists in Thailand and that I had many opportunities to share information about our community and practices. My hosts provided a team of wonderful people to assist us and I learned a lot about Buddhist thought and particularly their desire to achieve world peace. I was also privileged to be involved in a huge beautiful ritual with over a hundred and fifty thousand Buddhists from around the world which was very similar to some of the Pagan rituals I’ve participated in, in our own spiritual community. The ritual, which was called Maga Phuja, celebrates the light of the Buddha returning to the world. The celebration started with several thousand chanting monks in saffron robes circling around a huge round domed temple three times, acknowledging each of the four directions and the elements. The temple has one million gold Buddha’s (most of which are dispersed all over the top of the temple’s dome) which reflect the light in all directions in a profound way.

When darkness hit and the full moon began to rise, a sacred flame was kindled in the center of the temple which was progressively used to light a consecutive number of additional flames passed from one person to the next as far as you could see. The growing light radiated out in spiraling waves through 150,000 people until the sky actually glowed with the intensity. For me as a Pagan, it was both awesome and familiar. I also had the wonderful privilege of being one of the 5 people who got to light the initial flame, and watching it travel out from my location in the center to the far reaching fringes, was very powerful and moving.

After the main ritual, I had the opportunity to be interviewed on TV and had several more similar opportunities during my stay in Bangkok. I was also filmed for future use as I spoke about how to achieve world peace. I shared my own personal views that we are all sacred and part of one human family, and that if we all began with that premise, peace was possible. I also shared a story about the thirty year long process of creating a sacred violin that I had made for the purpose of connecting the people of the world through sacred music without any knowledge of how to make a violin. The finished instrument which I’d brought with me on the trip, I explained to the crowd and on TV, was constructed of diverse unconventional sacred materials from different countries relating to different spiritualities. I shared with them the fact, that many qualified violin makers said that the materials and process I was following would not work to create a usable instrument or make a good sound. I pointed out to the audience that the bringing together of such unfamiliar and diverse components, especially when those in power said that there is only one right way to make a violin (and my way wasn’t it), was actually a great analogy for what was required to succeed in the peace process. I then showed them that the face of the violin was carved from a tree that I had talked to in the forest for 6 years before harvesting it, so that it would know its purpose, and that the body was made from a rare wood from Africa that was used to make shamanic drums for the indigenous people, rather than the conventional maple. I pointed out the inlayed Celtic knot work was carved from a willow branch taken from Brigit’s Well in Kildare, Ireland, and I described the varnish which I made from scratch from plants sacred to the Native Americans and Pagans. I told them how I combined olive oil from the Greeks, walnut oil from the Germans, and crushed Bluestone from the megalithic circle at Avebury in Cornwall, to include magic in the end result. I also explained to the Buddhists that I created each aspect of the violin in ritual, and that every step of its construction was seen as a sacred quest to bring peace. And I told them that each time I failed in the process or something broke, I turned to a higher source for guidance on how to repair it or re-envision it. This, I told them, is the formula for World Peace … Acceptance of diversity, recognition of the sacredness of one another and the planet we live on, and the ability to constantly re-envision the process as we move forward, drawing on all of our diverse ways of connecting with a higher power or reason.

And then I played the violin and the sound was beautiful, and everyone was very moved, some were even moved to tears.

I finalized my talk by challenging them to join together in their diversity, and to stretch their world view to accept and explore difference as sacred. And then I pressed them to join together like the violin, joining all of our diverse voices to create something beautiful, like the music from the violin … World Peace.

Besides meeting and interacting with Buddhists in Thailand, I also had the wonderful opportunity to meet and make alliances with Elders from other spiritual communities. I spent time with a Native American Chief/Medicine Man and a Medicine Woman, representing the tribes of Canada, a Hindu Yogi who is very active in interfaith and world peace work in Nepal, and a Kahuna from Hawaii. I was invited by each to participate further in discussions and concrete projects in their communities and ours, and I will travel in the near future to meet with each of them separately.

I also got to work on projects for Children of the Earth, a United Nations NGO that I am affiliated with. Children of the Earth is working toward empowering young people to become the leaders of tomorrow, and has a vision of young people informed by their spirituality working together toward a sustainable planet. I had the honor of traveling with Dr. Nina Meyerhof, founder and President of that organization. COE already has several Pagan youth in leadership roles, and I hope to help more Pagans in the future to become involved in various world peace projects.

My time on the island of Java was also productive. I had the privilege of interacting with another major branch of Buddhism and being allowed to participate in sacred space with several world spiritual leaders and many monks. I got to walk nearly every day through one of the most revered Buddhist temples in the world, and I got to share some of our communities ideas about how to create a better world. In the end, I made many friends, and have been invited to participate further in the future. Again, a door has been opened, and I plan to help create opportunities for more Pagans to participate as we move forward.

Patrick McCollum receiving Lama Ganchen's Kata

In closing I’d like to say, that much of my trip was a powerful spiritual journey for me personally, and I will not share that here. Those who are interested can go to patrickmccollum.org and read my blog. But I had set out with three main goals to accomplish for our community which was the real focus of my trip. My first goal was to have us seen by others as a community with valuable things to contribute to the world. My second goal was to make alliances with other world spiritualities to join together to become a more formidable force for positive change in the world. And my third goal, was to include Pagan ideals into the mix as world leaders strive to construct a plan to achieve world peace and a sustainable planet.

I am hopeful that I accomplished that!

Rescue workers in front of Shinto shrine. Photo: Reuters/Damir Sagolj

CNN was one of the first mainstream news outlets to foray into how religion interacts with these current events, with Religion Editor Dan Gilgoff exploring how Japanese faiths confront tragedy.

“Japanese are not religious in the way that people in North America are religious,” says John Nelson, chair of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco. “They’ll move back and forth between two or more religious traditions, seeing them as tools that are appropriate for certain situations. For things connected to life-affirming events, they’ll turn to Shinto-style rituals or understandings,” Nelson says. “But in connection to tragedy or suffering, it’s Buddhism.”

Next to weigh in is USA Today, with religion reporter Cathy Lynn Grossman focusing on the role of tradition, and how Japanese Buddhism isn’t necessarily the Buddhism many Americans would be familiar with.

“Such talk of gods and hell kings doesn’t sound like the meditative Buddhism better known in the West, cultural anthropologist John Nelson said. He’s an expert on Shinto and Buddhist shrines and chairman of the department of theology and religious studies at University of San Francisco [...] ”Japanese Buddhism is similar to Western religions with deities that can be petitioned and can intervene in worldly affairs, and there are many mechanisms to appeal to them, to pray for miracles,” he said.”

Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic points to a short essay by former Anglican priest and journalist Mark Vernon, who meditates on the difference between the Shinto and Christian responses to natural disasters.

“In Christianity, human beings are at the centre of nature: creation is for humanity, along with other creatures, and it’s humanity’s task to care for it. Hence, in part, the offence we feel when nature turns against us. In Shintoism, nature is recognised as infinitely more powerful than humankind – as in the wave – and that humankind is in nature with the permission of the gods but with no particular concern from the gods. Shinto rituals show respect for the gods of nature, befriending the enormity of the forces, if you like.”

From there we have many smaller nods and mentions, the Telegraph explores the “tradition of rebuilding the great Shinto shrines,” the Washington Post evokes the image of a woman praying at “a small Shinto-inspired shrine to her ancestors,” while ABC News noted that local funeral homes “volunteered to provide traditional Shinto rites to the dead, donating white shrouds and cremating the bodies,” before becoming overwhelmed by the demand. Disappointingly, the Religion News Service’s coverage has so far been disproportionately focused on Christian reactions to the tragedy. One hopes that more robust reports on Shinto and Buddhist perspectives are forthcoming.

As things progress, we can hope that a larger sense of the importance of ancestor worship, tradition, the divine within nature, and the multiplicity of spiritual beings within Japanese culture will shine through in future aftermath coverage. In this disaster there is a rare opportunity to understand how a culture outside the Christian context grapples with universal questions and problems. Religion journalists should rise to this occasion, and minority faiths in the West should ask for the true diversity of faith in our world be accurately and fairly covered.

In one final related note, I also want to point to an article up now at PNC-Minnesota, where Hawaiian Pagan Lamyka, a former resident of Japan, is interviewed about how Hawaii’s experience with the tsunami triggered by the Japanese earthquake was, in her opinion, ignored in favor of California by the media.

“Hawai’i is seen as ‘foreign’ by many Americans, as evident by people’s reactions to the President coming here for holidays.  We’re never included in national dialogue, probably because it’s incredibly obvious that we shouldn’t be part of the USA to begin with.  Hawaiians have been protesting since being illegally usurped, fighting for our rights since statehood, and continue to fight for sovereignty rights denied to us.  We’ve had protests here numbering from 50,000-60,000 but never once made national news like in Wisconsin.”

Yet another perspective that should likely get more attention by the mainstream media. Do check out the entire article, and share your perspective.

ADDENDUM: You can find resources for donations here, and here.

Patrick McCollum’s Visit to Thailand: As I mentioned back in January, Pagan chaplain and activist Patrick McCollum will be traveling to Thailand in February at the invitation of Dhammakaya temple in the Pathumtani Province, where he will be honored as a World Inner Peace Ambassador, and share Pagan rituals and practices with Buddhist Lamas. McCollum will then travel to the renowned temple at Borobudur on the Island of Java with Lama Gangchen Rinpoche, of the World Peace Foundation. At the Patrick McCollum Foundation web site, Patrick shares his thoughts as he embarks on this historic journey.

“My journey continues to get increasingly more interesting as more and more opportunities present themselves, and I feel much like I am in an adventure story just waiting to find out what will happen next.  On this trip to Thailand, I will not only be meeting with venerable Buddhist lamas and monks, I will now also be meeting with several distinguished spiritual leaders from other traditions to forge sacred bonds and find common ground.  So far, I will be meeting with Cheif Kapiteotak Dominique Rankin, also known as T8aminik in the Algonquin language, former Grand Chief of the Algonquin nation and Elder in the Circle Of Medicine Men of the Canadian tribes. I will also be meeting with Master Li Hechun, Master of the Longmen (Dragon Gate) branch of the Ch’uan-chen (Complete Perfection) School of Taoism in China and with Guru Chintamani  Yogi of the Hindu VidyaPeethmovement from Nepal, founder of the Shanti Sewa Ashram and Peace Service Center. I will also have the honor to spend part of my journey with Patrick Kuaimoku, Kahuna Lokahi from Hawaii, Keeper of the Ancient Hawaiian wisdom tradition.   In such company, it is hard to imagine any part of my journey being anything less than extraordinary.”

Patrick will be sharing more information and insights about his trip with us when he returns. This is a major interfaith event for modern Pagan faiths, one that could have far-reaching effects on Buddhist-Pagan relations for years to come. Congratulations to Patrick on this great honor. To keep track of Patrick’s journey be sure to follow the Patrick McCollum Foundation’s blog, and the Foundation’s Facebook page.

Sacred Spaces Series: Cara Schulz of PNC Minnesota has started a new video series (Part 1, Part 2) on the creation of modern Pagan sacred spaces, speaking with Priest Drew Jacob from Temple of the River.

Many Pagan groups share the dream of building some type of sacred space.  A temple, a community center, a permanent altar.  It remains a dream because they lack the information, skills, and experience to bring it into reality.  Yet other groups have accomplished what can seem, at times, impossible.  They have learned how to raise funds, deal with city inspectors, and overcome challenges that stymie most groups who attempt these ambitious projects.   In this series, PNC talks with groups who have successfully created their own Sacred Spaces.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DnkzQKMY5k

You can see part one of this video series, here. Part three will most likely happen after this year’s PantheaCon, as Cara and several other PNC bureau members will be attending that event this weekend. This is an excellent video series, and shows the potential and scope of locally-focused Pagan news bureaus.

The Green Heart of England is Not For Sale: Controversy has raged recently in England over the proposed plans to conduct a massive sell-off of state-owned woodland. A move that sparked almost universal condemnation, and a rare public climb-down from the environment secretary. British Druid Philip Carr-Gomm, leader of The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, had this to say on the issue.

“David Bellamy articulated the feelings of most people when they first heard the news of the government’s proposed disposal of all of England’s public forest: “The green heart of England is not for sale.” It looks as if the message is getting through. Over half a million have signed the ‘Save Our Forests’ petition organised by grass-roots movement 38 degrees and today David Cameron signalled that the plan may be ditched [...] The irony of a party with a tree as its logo behaving in this way has occurred to many. Our Druid group has been working with the idea since it began. Melanie Philips, of the Daily Mail telepathically picked up our thoughts (ha!) and voiced them on TV on the BBC’s Question Time, suggesting a felled oak and a dead stag as the Conservative logo…”

Carr-Gomm promises that efforts to “apply pressure and voice our concerns” will resume should the Tory/Lib Dem coalition government decide once more to sell off large swathes of its green heart, but for now, there is a celebratory mood of victory.

Pagan Newswire News: I’ve got some Pagan Newswire Collective-related announcements to make. First off, a warm welcome to the PNC’s newest bureau, PNC-Bay Area!

“Welcome to the Bay Area Bureau of the Pagan Newswire Collective. We are an all volunteer group (of currently 10 people), reporting on news and events of interest to the pagan communities here in the Bay Area of California. We have bios of our volunteers posted on its own page of the site here. If you would like to join our collective and write for us, email our Bureau Coordinator at bayarea (at) paganewswirecollective (dot) com.”

I am very excited to finally have coverage from the San Francisco Bay Area of California, long a hot-spot of modern Paganism, and look forward to their contributions! Several members of the new bureau will be at this year’s PantheaCon, and I’ve created a special page listing all official PNC-related events for those attending. You may also notice that we’ve quietly debuted the new site design, and you’ll hear more about that as things progress. I think 2011 will be a great year for the PNC, one that will greatly benefit all Pagan media outlets.

Cooking for a Pagan Seminary: In a quick final note, a number of Austin-based Pagan groups are organizing a cook-off and potluck benefit for Cherry Hill Seminary.

“One thing everyone in the Austin Pagan community shares is the love of a good potluck. Diverse organizations and individuals in the Austin area are coming together to co-sponsor a cook-off and silent auction to benefit Cherry Hill Seminary. Cherry Hill Seminary serves all our communities by providing quality higher education and practical training in Pagan Ministry. They offer several master’s degrees, certificate programs, and community education primarily available through distance learning. Many of us have received outstanding training in our chosen tradition, but there are some individuals who feel compelled to go above and beyond with their service to others. While many resources exist to train and assist students as they pursue their chosen Pagan tradition or path, there is an acute need for specific training in areas such as counseling, ethics, marriage and family issues, religion and the law, interfaith work, Pagan scholarship, media and public relations, ritual arts, leadership development, and nonprofit management.”

As a former CHS board member, and occasional teacher, I fully support the idea of communities rallying together to support this venture. One that will ultimately benefit all modern Pagans. Kudos to the Austin, Texas Pagans for putting this together!

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