Wiccan Murderer Sentenced: The sensationalism-drenched case of Angela Sanford, a Wiccan who killed Joel Levya in what some media described as a ritualistic sacrifice, has finally come to an end.  Sanford plead no contest to second-degree murder in August, and was today sentenced to 20 years in prison.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vuISkSRpLY

“Angela Sanford was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday for her connection to the death of Joel Leyva back in March 2010. Sanford, 31, said she was afraid Leyva, 52, would rape her so she convinced him to have sex with her and then she later stabbed him in the head, neck and stomach a total of 13 times.”

Sanford originally said the killing was in self-defense against an attempted rape, but that story soon unraveled as the details didn’t fit, and her cell phone listed Levya’s number under “sacrifice.” What really sparked Sanford to violently murder this man still remains unknown.

Wiccan Teen Attacked: A New Mexico teen made the local news when a fellow student attacked him with pine-cones after he stated his desire to become Wiccan.

“Officers were dispatched to the Aggie Express on Monday at 4:20 p.m., where the alleged victim, 14, said he had gotten off the school bus and was talking to another boy about a book he had, “Protecting Your Teen from Today’s Witchcraft: A Parent’s Guide to Confronting Wicca and the Occult.” The alleged victim said he “recently has chosen to change religions to Wicca and the book was given to his dad by a friend of his dad’s,” according to the police report. After the second boy looked at the book briefly, he allegedly threw the book, called it “satanic” “and then picked up pine cones and started to throw them” at the complainant, who reported being hit several times in the arms.”

So why was this seemingly random bullying event covered by the local news, it seems because a man was sentenced to 4 days of prison and a year of probation for throwing a pine cone at a police officer this past Summer. In any case, this is a perfect example of how anti-Pagan propaganda gets distributed, and how Pagan/Wiccan teens can face harassment for their choices.

Lighting Up Stonehenge: English Heritage and Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon (no, not that Arthur Pendragon) are often at odds over the proper way to preserve Stonehenge, but they agree on one thing, lighting up the prehistoric monument would be a bad idea.

Senior Druid, King Arthur Pendragon, said it would “detract from the very purpose of Stonehenge”. English Heritage, which manages the site, said it could be a distraction for nearby traffic. [...]  ”It’s not designed to be illuminated at night and in my opinion it smacks of theme park Stonehenge which is everything I stand against.”

Meanwhile, archaeologists now think the site could have been a place for “sun worship” well before the stones were erected. Oh, and the Olympic torch will pass by the site.

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

A message of "Die Heathens" left at the site.

“The Kalends of September proved long and full, and now another Kalends comes upon us.  The Ides (13 Sept) celebrates the anniversary of the dedication of the Temple of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva atop the Capitoline Hill of Rome. It is therefore especially sad to learn that the Temple of Jupiter Perennus that is being built for our community in Poltava, Ukraine, was attacked last Monday night by a group of Orthodox Christians. Our chief priest of Jupiter, the Flamen Dialis Marcus Corvus was injured while defending the altar of Jupiter and has been hospitalized. This comes after news that another Christian band attacked a Romuva sanctuary in Lithuania. Even here in Ohio, some years ago, Christians attacked a sanctuary that was erected by a CUUPS group on the grounds of a Unitarian church in Fairlawn, a suburb of Akron.   While sad to hear such events continue today, it is no shock to learn of them. Not when ministers like John Hagey preach that “Tolerance is a sin,” when Pat Robertson, among others, blamed the 9/11 attacks on pagans, or when Rev. Billingsly, the former minister of the Akron Baptist Temple, once preached from the pulpit to his congregation that they ought to burn pagans at the stake.  Such is the face of the “New Christianity” that we are met with each day, and now it has touched my friend Corvus and his family.”

The next day, the Cultus Deorum Romanorum blog posted photos of the desecration, and Kenaz Filan pointed out that this isn’t an isolated incident in the Ukraine.

“Despicable as this crime is, it’s not the first such attack in Poltava.  On April 13, 2002, some 50 young men leaving a soccer game attacked a nearby synagogue:  hurling stones and yelling “Kill the Jews,” they broke some twenty windows and beat up two people, one the son of Kiev’s chief rabbi. In July 2008 a Holocaust memorial was smeared with paint and anti-Semitic graffiti.   And in October 2001 a Roma family’s house was set afire: five people died in the conflagration, including a six-year old girl and three-year old boy.  The Poltava police showed little interest in finding the responsible parties, which is unsurprising since a Poltava police officer allegedly led the assailants.”

Filan also points out that Pagan groups in the Ukraine aren’t completely blameless, and that some nationalistic strains of Paganism in that country have engaged in attacks on Orthodox churches. Still, the deeds of some Pagan groups in the Ukraine do not excuse violence towards any or all Pagans by Orthodox Christian mobs. At his personal blog, P. Sufenas Virius Lupus said he was “horrified”, but not surprised at this incident.

“With the way worldwide Christianity is progressing at present, particularly in some areas that don’t have the same views on religious liberty that the U.S. supposedly enshrines in its highest laws of the land, insecure Christians with something to prove (mostly to themselves, which is truly sad) feel the need to lash out at others. May their vandalism and intolerance be met with redoubled efforts on the part of the Flamen and his associates to honor their gods in the face of adversity, and may all of the gods of healing (perhaps including Ares) assist him in his recovery.”

You can find more commentary from a variety of Pagans and polytheists at Sannion’s blog as well. For those wanting to donate toward the rebuilding of what was destroyed, you can donate here.

In Other News:

• Star Foster notes the passing of Lord Merlin (aka David John White), 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. Foster also makes note of the fact that Lord Merlin was gay, and worries that Craft secrecy would mean that his identity as a gay many might be erased from history by future scholars and historians. A memorial festival is being held later this month.
• Andrew Bowen at Project Conversion (now hosted by Beliefnet) is now starting his month living and practicing as a Wiccan. So far he has made an introductory post, a post about making his altar and altar tools, and a bad experience he had with some from-the-book “shamanism” he engaged with in 2003. Star Foster isn’t exactly pleased with how Bowen is handling things so-far, though Bowen protests that he is engaged for the right reasons, and wants to bring more understanding of Wicca to the masses. I’m personally withholding judgment until the month is over, though I do think religion-hopping like this is problematic even under the best and most well-meaning circumstances.
• Now that Amanda Knox has been acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher on appeal, more than a few have been noting the ties to “Satanic panic” that marred the original conviction. However, a bizarre editorial from Brendan O’Neill in The Telegraph says that the Satanic panics were started by feminists, not Christians, using one whole data point (and Oprah) to feed his narrative. In truth, this moral panic incubated, at least in the United States, in Christian churches, not feminist gatherings. The textual evidence for this is so pervasive that I can only think that O’Neill has an ax to grind.
• As I’ve reported previously, there has been much discussion over structural improvements to the area around Stonehenge, especially as the Olympics are coming to London in 2012. A public inquiry into improvements, and the closing of roads nearby, has just finished. While the inquiry seems to be recommending less traffic near Stonehenge, this has met with opposition from controversial Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon (no, not that Arthur Pendragon), who claims seeing the heritage site from the road is a “human right”. Quote: “We will be robust against any such change; other groups may procrastinate or demonstrate but we will leave no stone unturned. We have fought long and hard for what little rights we have in and around Stonehenge and we will not give them up lightly. We will not go quietly into the night.” It remains to be seen what improvement, if any, gets started before the Olympics are under way.

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

• Michael York, author of “Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion”, writes a response to Christian apologist Peter Kreeft. Kreeft’s article “Comparing Christianity & The New Paganism” says that “new paganism is a joining of forces by three of the enemies of theism: humanism, polytheism and pantheism,” to which York counters that “Kreeft betrays the essential dichotomizing bi-polarity of the theistic construct.” I recommend reading the entire, highly enjoyable, response.
• SF Weekly blog Exhibitionist looks at recent incidents of animal sacrifice in the Bernel Heights area and explains why they probably weren’t committed by Satanists or adherents to Santeria. The article by Beth Winegarner interviews Mary Ehm, owner of La Sirena Botanica, and yours truly. My two cents: “A good deal of the fear, misinformation, and rushed conclusions in these matters is partially due to anxiety over cultures and traditions we don’t understand, and partially due to the actions of various ‘occult experts,’ who have been sensationalizing and over-stating the problem of ritual animal sacrifice to law enforcement and animal welfare officers.”
• A former Liberty University student reflects on Jerry Falwell’s infamous “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians” 9/11-blaming comment. While Austin Carty is still an evangelical Christian, he says that he now sees “through this miasma of misunderstanding to see such a mentality for the insidious lie that it is.” My final word on Falwell came at his passing in 2007, where I pointed out that his “intolerant buffoonery was the perfect caricature of anyone opposing the free exercise of our faiths.”
• Tanja Diamond, author of “Beyond Sex: Tantra- A Practical Guide to Extraordinary Living,” blasts the Phoenix Goddess Temple for giving tantric sex practices a bad name. Meanwhile, in the comments of my initial report on the arrests, clients, and visitors, have been speaking up with their thoughts. In addition, some local Pagans have been giving their perspective in my follow-up post.
• In a clip provided by Right Wing Watch, Cindy Jacobs, a leader within the New Apostolic Reformation, lays out the theological importance of Rick Perry’s ‘The Response’ event: What did the indigenous people worship? [...] in Texas here and all of the coast around Houston and Galveston and some of that area, the Native American people were cannibals [...] We just had a prayer meeting in Houston a little a week ago, the governor of Texas, really as an individual instigated this, and 35,000 people showed up to pray and it was only a prayer meeting called within three months, three month period of time. So what happened? The land is starting to rejoice, you see, because of that prayer.” Jacobs, you may remember, gloried in the destruction of Haiti for breaking the “strongman of the occult”, and blamed Shinto for the destruction and horror that the citizens of Japan faced in the aftermath of the recent earthquake/tsunami. She’s now involved in the DC40 campaign.
• British actor, mixed-martial-artist, and reality show contestant Alex Reid has allegedly been knighted by King Arthur (no, not that King Arthur, this King Arthur). Reid traveled to Stonehenge earlier this year to  “find peace and draw energy from the earth,” after a public breakup with wife Katie Price.
• At Patheos, P. Sufenas Virius Lupus sings the praises of smaller, more specialized, deities, specifically Sterculinus, the god of manure-based fertilizer.
• Last month I reported on the decline of religion in the West, and how “least-religious” Estonia seemed to have plenty of religion, just not the formal church-based Christian religion that many consider the default. This assertion is backed up by a new editorial by Ringo Ringvee, adviser at the religious affairs department at the Estonian ministry of the interior, who says the Paganism is thriving in Estonia. “A new phenomenon during the last 15 years has been the rising number of Estonians identifying themselves with a nature-spirituality that could be defined as the Estonian neo-paganism.” It should be noted that Ringvee also stresses that this isn’t a majority of Estonians, and that “during the ancient holy days the groves are not filled with people.” Still, this is a data point in the assertion that Paganism can and does grow in a post-Christian secular environment.
• According to an Asia Times editorial, Taiwan is still ruled by the occult (yay?).
• The bared breast of the Roman goddess Virtus will grace a proposed 23-foot-by-11-foot mural depicting the progress of Norfolk, Virginia.
• Our condolences go out to the family, friends, and fans of actor Andy Whitfield. Whitfield recently passed away after a long fight against non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He is perhaps best known for playing the Roman gladiator Spartacus in the Starz series “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.”

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.

• First off, I hope all my readers, friends, and supporters out on the East Coast, and in the path of Hurricane Irene, are safe and have taken proper precautions. Though the storm is less intense than first expected, there’s still plenty of damage a storm of that size can do.  COG First Officer Peter Dybing offers a prayer for safety, as does ADF Archdruid Kirk Thomas. Some Wild Hunt readers are checking in at this site’s Facebook page.
• New York City Councilman Dan Halloran, one of two openly Pagan/Heathen elected officials in the United States, appears in the new documentary “9/11: Reflections Then and Now.” Halloran lost his cousin, Lt. Vincent Halloran, that day, and nearly lost his brother, Patrick. At a special screening of the film, Halloran said that “one of the most important things to remember is almost every New Yorker was touched by this tragedy, a 9/11 family in New York is not a unique thing.”
• At his blog Morehead’s Musings, John Morehead does a follow-up interview with attorney Dan Stidham (original interview, here), who represented Jessie Misskelley of the West Memphis 3 until 2008 (at which point he became a judge). Stidham says that “Satanic Panic convicted the WM3 and the hard work of many people from all around the world refused to let this injustice stand.” I would suggest reading the whole thing, as there’s a lot of great information to be found there. You may also want to read Peg Aloi’s further commentary on the WM3′s release.
• Remember the mini Internet tempest that was the Circle of Moms contest? In short, a group of Pagan mom-bloggers did better than expected in the “faith” category ranking contest, sparking some unfortunate behavior by some Christian participants (though several Christian mom-bloggers did apologize for the behavior of their coreligionists). In any case, the fruits of that victory, in which the top 25 get special featured site interviews, is now up. Congrats once again to Mrs B., Angela, Lily, Joni, and all the other Pagan mom-bloggers who made it.
• Bill Keller at the New York Times Magazine argues that we should be asking presidential candidates tougher questions about their faith, and shares the general questionnaire that he sent out to all the candidates. While Get Religion slammed Keller’s editorial as “bizarre” and called the questions “loaded,” I would love to hear honest answers from the candidates to the question: “(a) Do you agree with those religious leaders who say that America is a “Christian nation” or “Judeo-Christian nation?” (b) What does that mean in  practice?” Meanwhile, Dave Niose, president of the American Humanist Association argues at Psychology Today that concerns over the religious right aren’t overblown.
• The sensationalism-drenched case of Angela Sanford, a Wiccan who killed Joel Levya in what some media described as a ritualistic sacrifice, has seemingly come to an end.  Sanford has plead no contest to second-degree murder, and will face sentencing in October. Sanford originally said the killing was in self-defense against an attempted rape, but that story soon unraveled as the details didn’t fit, and her cell phone listed Levya’s number under “sacrifice.” What really sparked Sanford to violently murder this man remains unknown.
• Here at Patheos, P. Sufenas Virius Lupus discusses the roots of homophobia, and bluntly states that it has no place within modern Paganism, and that Pagans supporting political candidates who engage in homophobia is an affront to our religious values. Quote:  “If modern Pagan religions and forms of animism and polytheism, which are supposed to revere nature to some extent or another, maintain homophobia of any sort (even if it is out of adherence to some ancient texts or traditions, which themselves often have resulted from Christian influence or inadequate modern interpretations of difficult terminologies), then they are aligning themselves with fundamentalist religious viewpoints that would happily seek to outlaw, and even execute, those who are “guilty” of homoeroticism or gender variance. Voting for conservative candidates who have espoused a religious position like this because one agrees with them on fiscal issues is a direct affront to every religious value one upholds as a modern Pagan or polytheist.”
• It looks like all the recent direct-action activism to protect the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona is having some effect, the business magazine Fast Company has run a spotlight on the Hopi Tribe’s new litigation against the wastewater pipeline currently underway. Fast Company’s article is too glib by half, but it is at least getting the story back on the radar of mainstream media. You can read all of my coverage on this story, here. For ongoing coverage of direct-action activism, check out Censored News and Indigenous Action Media.
• In a move that should surprise no one, Texas governor Rick Perry continues to woo influential and high-rolling conservative Christians, including David “paganism and witchcraft were never intended to receive the protections of the Religion Clauses” Barton. Perry has a long history with Barton, a fact that should make any Pagan nervous, if the giant prayer rally featuring several NAR participants didn’t already.
• Reviews of “The Wicker Tree,” the forthcoming companion film to the classic 1973 Pagan-themed horror film “The Wicker Man,” are pouring in from FrightFest 2011, and they aren’t pretty. Total Film complains of a “near-absence of momentum or intrigue,” while WhatCulture! says this film is far sillier than “The Wicker Man,” and that the “film suffers through not making us care” and calls the Christopher Lee cameo a “pointless waste.” Ouch! You can read all of my “Wicker Tree” coverage, here.
• Zeus and Hera have been removed from the Acropolis for safe-keeping, their Parthenon metope will be replaced with a copy, while the originals will be on display a the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
• Has King Arthur’s famous round table been found? The answer is a firm maybe.
• An important lesson in framing Pagan pride from Hecate.

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.

Stonehenge

“Mr Justice Wyn Williams refused to give King Arthur permission to launch a judicial review action – ruling at a High Court hearing in London that there was insufficient evidence to show that the Ministry of Justice might have acted unreasonably. The judge heard that the cremated remains of more than 40 bodies – thought to be at least 5,000 years old – were removed from a burial site at Stonehenge in 2008 and ministers gave researchers from Sheffield University permission to keep the bones until 2015.”

While King Arthur was calling for a “day of action” to protest this decision, another group, Pagans For Archaeology, were pleased that scientific exploration of the remains will continue uninterrupted.

“The very reason we know what we do about Stonehenge and the people buried there is due to archaeology, without it you would know naff all about it, the people and the relationship between the two.”

At their website, PFA makes their case for why the retention and study of human remains is important. As for King Arthur, he insists that this “is not a Pagan argument, it is not a Druid argument. It is a matter of common decency.” Stonhenge is matter of great emotional, religious, and psychological import for many Britons. With the London 2012 Olympics fast approaching, you can be sure that the treatment, preservation, and study of this site will continue to be a newsmaking issue.

Maetreum of Cybele Sends Out a Call for Help: The Maetreum of Cybele, Magna Mater, in an ongoing tax battle with the Town of Catskill, New York, have sent out an urgent plea for funds as what they hope will be the final trial in the matter approaches.

“All along the Town knew they would lose this battle if we could just get it to trial so they have attempted to bury us under legal motions to break us financially and have spent somewhere between 100 to 150 thousand dollars to do so.  I am sad to report that unless we get significant help in this final stages, they might succeed.  Donations so far have helped but we have had to hire a new attorney at about three times the cost as our original attorney.  She is much more experienced and worth the expense but has informed me that the rest of our case will cost us an approximate additional 10 thousand dollars which simply is impossible for us to come up with ourselves at this stage.

Our priestesses have stepped forward to the point of tens of thousands so far but now we are all broke.  Please, this case is important, a milestone for minority religion rights.  If this can be done to us, a legally incorporated religious charitable organization with full IRS 501 c3 recognition, it literally can be done to any minority religious group.  A victory, which is fairly well assured if we can finish the battle, is especially important when political groups are pushing back against non Christians, clean air and water and the basic concept of taking care of each other and our common planet home.”

The law in this case seems pretty clearly on the side of the Maetreum of Cybele, but Catskill is going to wage a scorched earth legal campaign in hopes the Pagans run out of money and energy first, stating that “the town was already too deep into the case to give up and that significant dollars could be saved by preventing exemptions for illegitimate religions.” A court date is set for November 15th. We’ll keep you updated on further developments. For those wanting to an make a tax-deductible donation, you can do so directly via paypal to: centralhouse@gallae.com. Or you can contact them through their website.

In Other News:

• Over at PNC-Minnesota Cara Schulz writes an excellent essay on the trials and tribulations faced by the organizers of Sacred Harvest Festival, and how they have persevered and survived.
• The Dogwood Local Council of the Covenant of the Goddess has announced that they will sponsor a Pagan Prayer display at the Unity Church of Gainesville, part of a 24 hour prayer vigil to celebrate unity in prayer.  The event encourages people of all faiths to experience how others worship,  with displays from many different religions and sects.
• Just a reminder that the 1st Annual Conference on Earth-Based, Nature-Centered, Polytheistic & Indigenous Faiths is quickly approaching. The theme for the one-day conference on September 24 in San Francisco is “Gender & Earth-Based Spiritualities”.  Speakers include Vicki Noble,  T. Thorn Coyle, Joi Wolfwomyn, Lady Yeshe Rabbit, and Diana Paxson. Acclaimed poet and social theorist Judy Grahn has just been added to the program.
• Head over to Get Religion to check out the Pagan edition of their “guilt files,” religion stories they have been meaning to cover, but haven’t found the time to get to.
• For those of you who were at the Morrigan devotional ritual during the 2011 PantheaCon, or wished they were at that ritual, you may want to check out an upcoming weekend intensive entitled “Answering the Call: Battle Goddess in Times of Change”. Led by Morpheus Ravenna, T. Thorn Coyle and Sharon Knight, the intensive promises to answer “an urgent call to rise up, prepare ourselves for times of change, help our communities become strong and resilient.” You can find out more about this event, here. The Facebook event page can be found, here.

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

The Issue of Salem Psychics: While I’ve been covering the back-and-forth over the issue of licensing psychics in Salem, Massachusetts, this Atlantic Wire does a darn good job of encapsulating the issue to date.

What the Fight Is Really About: Government regulation vs. the free market. The Boston Globe’sRob Anderson puts it into context. “While it may not be the most conventional of examples, the dispute is not all that different from the dilemmas cities have dealt with licensing other businesses like taxicabs,” he notes. “In fact, the episode makes for what University of Michigan economics professor Mark Perry calls ‘a good case study of occupational licensing, with economic lessons in barriers to entry, contestable markets, and government regulation vs. market competition.’”

Barring some major political or cultural shift I can’t see Salem returning to its far stricter licensing policies. The last battle over regulations in Salem back in 2007 got truly strange, and what we have now is a compromise solution. For more on this issue, see my Psychic Services and the Law series.

Checking In with No Unsacred Place: This past Monday I introduced the latest Pagan Newswire Collective topic-focused group blog No Unsacred Place. Now that we are a solid week in, I wanted to check back in as it “explores the relationships between religion and science, nature and civilization from a diversity of modern Pagan perspectives.”

• Cat Chapin-Bishop ponders how things would be different if we acted like the earth really mattered, and advocates that we “take back the wind” by drying our clothes on clothes lines instead of using a dryer.
• Meical abAwen advocates that we “set aside all notions of the separation of science and spirituality and approach the use of the knowings that we have acquired simply as multiple paths to a common goal.”
• Juniper Jeni explores building better connections with animals, wondering “when was the last time you laid hands on an animal?”
• John Beckett looks for the sacred in suburbia, noting that “you just have to work a little harder and a little more mindfully to find it.”
• Ruby Sara touches on rites for the earth, focusing on the coming of Spring.
• Howling Hill asks “why aren’t Pagans the leaders of the environmental movement?”

This is a very impressive set of opening posts, and I look forward to many more. I hope that you’ll head over and check out No Unsacred Place, participate in conversation, and subscribe to their feed (or like them on Facebook).

Morgan, Merlin, Paganism: I feel somewhat silly writing about a show I’ve only seen brief clips of, but until the witch-heavy season of True Blood starts in June, Starz new series “Camelot” is the most pagan-y television show going at the moment. Anyway, the A.V. Club has a wrap-up of the latest episode (beware, spoilers!) and touches on themes of paganism, magic, and proto-feminism.

“I can’t help but wonder how this series would be had it gone the same route (perspective-wise, if not in execution) as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon. Avalon made Morgan a distinctively more heroic figure than Camelot does, but there’s an argument to be made that this iteration of Morgan could have, and perhaps should have, been the entry point for the series. [...] The show’s conflation of paganism and proto-feminism could be potentially problematic, but it recognizes that the mix of the two is a sociological product, not something to be admired or emulated. Morgan’s time in a nunnery, away from Uther, fostered a desire to both connect with and overcome her father’s place on the throne.”

I’m fully supportive of making Morgan the focal character. So much has been made of the Arthur-Lancelot-Guinevere theme in modern Arthuriana that more outside perspectives would be a breath of fresh air. In fact, a creative writer or director has dozens of viewpoints to choose from, and some of the more successful recent takes (like Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles) took advantage of that possibility. In any case, I know this series has plenty of cheese, but I can’t help but anticipate when it’ll finally hit Netflix and I can watch it for myself.

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

Scarlet Imprint Declares War: The esoteric publishing house Scarlet Imprint, after learning of the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, has thrown down the magickal gauntlet.

“It is not enough to dither or ask What would Aleister Crowley do? We are here NOW. It is for us to confront this direct attack on our freedom. This is a critical time, and magick, if it is to prove anything at all, is the art of applying leverage at critical moments in time, as the Temple of Psychic Youth would say: To force thee hand of chance. [...] We will use our art to envisage a different future. We will take magic onto the streets. We swear vengeance. And we, we are Legion.”

The publisher also suggests closing your Amazon account (because they closed Wikileak’s hosting account), closing your Mastercard and Visa account (because they froze donations to Wikileaks), and supporting the hacker attacks of Anonymous. However, they don’t suggest cancelling your Paypal account, nor have they closed theirs, even though that site has also frozen donations to Wikileaks. Then again, they also stress that the most important action is to “enchant for freedom.”

“This is a time for Witchcraft, for the birth of a rhizomatic underground of resistance. This is the Witchcraft advocated by Jack Parsons in the face of McCarthyism. This is the Witchcraft that has drunk wisdom from the bloody grail of mystery.”

The problem with all the outrage, media blitz, and no-doubt politically motivated pressure to have Assange extradited is that it is causing some reasonable people to whitewash what might have actually been rape. Engaging in some troubling victim-blaming. Perhaps these accusations are being overblown, or used as a way to “get Assange,” but they shouldn’t be erased because we support the leaking of government documents. As for Wikileaks itself, I’m generally a fan of transparency and whistle-blowers, and I’m even a fan of occasionally “crushing bastards,” but I’m not sure I’m ready to swear vengeance on its behalf just yet.

Pulling the Trigger: LAShTal points us to the launch of Trigger93: A Journal of Magic(k), Culture, and The Issues.

“Trigger93 is a radical new journal of literature, art, and the uncanny—a journal that juxtaposes magic(k)ally informed works created by established artists and academics with similar works created by established practitioners of magic(k). Our first issue, The Word, explores the relationship between language and the spirit, and includes contributions from writer and Columbia Professor, Michael Taussig; ceremonial magician, James A. Eshelman; artists Simryn Gill, Mikala Dwyer and Tamara Wyndham; and cartoonist, Seth Tobocman, to name a few. Trigger93: The Word will be available 12/17/10″

You can pre-order your copy now. Always nice to see a new esoteric/magickal publication hitting the “stands”.

The Difference Between Scholars and Practitioners: Over at Letter From Hardscrabble Creek, Chas Clifton talks about being a Pagan within Pagan Studies, and how what religion scholars do is very different from what practitioners writing for their own communities do.

So if I were revising Her Hidden Children (I have no plan to do so), I would have to take [Bron Taylor’s] ideas into account. The conversation would continue. Not that I am right and he is wrong, or vice versa, but I would have to sort out the differences and similarities, intellectual influences (e.g., he gives Henry Thoreau much more space than I do), and so on, because I think that Dark Green Religion is a significant book, and it would be a glaring omission to ignore it now.

These are just two books, against the flood of practitioner-oriented texts coming out from Llewellyn and other publishers.  And neither I nor Bron (so far as I know) are teaching workshops on “How to be a better nature-religionist,” complete with breathing exercises, movement, and song. Other people could do that much better. Audiences want to hear a speaker with a schtick.

I think some of us have fallen into the trap of labeling Pagan Studies works as “advanced” books for our faiths, when they should instead be seen as an illuminating aid towards deeper understanding of how and why we do what we do. How we got to where we are today, and what that might mean for our future. This should be separated from books that actually seek to deepen our own practices, works on practice and theology from authors like Brendan Myers or Thorn Coyle.

King Arthur Wants Reburial: The Salisbury Journal reports that Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon is seeking judicial review and reburial of cremated remains taken from Stonehenge in 2008.

King Arthur said: ‘This is not just a Druid or Pagan issue, and we have the support of thousands of people from all walks of life from nations around the world and all the major faiths, who have signed our petition demanding that the remains be re-interred at what should have been their final resting place. ‘The remains will never go on display and they should just be reburied.’ The remains were removed from the site for tests to be carried out as part of The Stonehenge Riverside Archaeological Project.

This move was sparked by Sheffield University asking for an extension to retain the remains for five years, something Pendragon vociferously opposes, calling for the “timely return of our ancestors.” As I’ve noted several times before on this site, there is no consensus among British Pagans on this issue, with many, most notably Pagans for Archeology, opposed to the reburial of ancient human remains. Other groups, like Honouring the Ancient Dead (HAD), only call for the reburial of remains that “have no scientific or research potential”.

Reminder on Operation Circle Care: I’d just like to end with a quick reminder that it’s not too late to donate towards Operation Circle Care, which sends care packages to Pagan military personnel serving in war zones.

“For the fourth year in a row, Circle Sanctuary is honoring and supporting active duty Pagan service members through Operation Circle Care. This year, we are widening our focus and sending Yuletide care packages to active duty Pagan troops serving in any overseas theater of operation, including Germany, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, or on board Navy ships. The success of this program is due to the generous support and donations from Pagan community members from many paths and places. With your continued support, it is our goal to honor and remember each and every Pagan US military service member we can with a special personalized gift for Yule, just as we have in years past.”

You can find a list of donation suggestions, and ways to help, at their web site.

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