A Message from the Louisiana Alliance of Wiccans

May 5, 2010 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 23 Comments

As I mentioned in my May 2nd post, there’s been some local opposition to a Pagan festival being held in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, including some questionable statements by a local law enforcement official,  a newly formed “concerned citizens” group, and rumblings of protests and missional activities by some local Christians.

“No one in Livingston Parish wants any witches here, and it IS our right, and our DUTY to make the experience of anyone attending this gathering as educational as possible. We are praying for the salvation of all the people in attendance. We are also gathering people to bring the gospel to these attending. We hope many people will learn about the true Lord while they are in our parish. – Longtime resident of Livingston Parish, anxiously waiting to meet all of you!”

This situation has sparked a statement from James A. Harry, the attorney representing the Louisiana Alliance of Wiccans and Gryphon’s Nest Campground (owned/run by Cliff Eakin, the man who successfully challenged Livingston Parish’s anti-fortune-telling ordinance). I reproduce the proclamation, in full, below.

Once again, the headlines in Livingston Parish, Louisiana are ablaze because Wiccans are standing up for their right to choose to follow a religion that isn’t Christianity. This time, however, the problem is not with the Parish leaders, but rather some extremist[s] who appear to claim to be Christians. They have attempted to stop two Pagan festivals scheduled in Livingston Parish through a program of defamation of Wicca and Wiccans and they are apparently calling others to take acts that appear to be designed to terrorize the festivals and their speakers. Presently, each of the Pagan festivals will now be forced to provide security for these events, and it is thought that turnout will be low or non-existent as a result of the actions of these defamers.

The festivals that have been attacked are the Gryphon’s Nest Campground Grand Opening scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend. The other festival attacked was the Annual LAW Festival set for May, 8, 2010. LAW is a non-profit organization which has just received 501(c)(4) tax exempt status by the IRS, whose purpose includes protecting the legal rights of Wiccans. The organization grew from the support received by local Wiccan groups, including The CPWC and the Coven of the Gryphon, in the fight against the Livingston Parish Anti-Divination Ordinance, which suit resulted in victory for the Wiccan community. Subsequently, LAW has retained legal counsel for individuals whose religious rights or problems have been at issue in the Court system in Louisiana and those individuals have had problems in Jefferson Parish, St. Tammany Parish, Livingston Parish, and Ascension Parish.

As the attorney who will be representing both Gryphon’s Nest and LAW in the planned suits against the extremists referred to above, I urge pagans not to post messages on the Internet regarding any of the matters described above. Such postings will not help my clients.

Instead, I urge you to write your elected representatives to create laws that will protect Wiccans’ values and to add stiff criminal penalties for those who commit terrorist acts to promote their religion at the expense of Wicca. Please feel free to contact LAW to obtain sample letters to send to your elected representatives and to help you identify your elected representatives. LAW can be contacted at vharry@hughes.net

Further, I urge you to help both Gryphon’s Nest Campground and LAW to mitigate its damages by attending the festivals.

Furthermore, the problems faced by residents of Livingston Parish, Louisiana are not unique to this community. The work done here sets precedents in the rest of the country. On behalf of my clients, I beg our National Leaders, our Founders, our Authors, and all those who can garner the attention of other Wiccans to rally to our aid by contacting me through LAW’s email address above. Wiccans have made excellent progress in obtaining the respect and tolerance of the government here. If we stand together, we can show everyone that we will not be whipped by the bible belt.

James A. Harry
Attorney at LAW

So there you have it. Taking the advice of LAW’s attorney, I urge all who want to support the Wiccans and Pagans in Livingston Parish (and surrounding areas) to coordinate with them on the matter. I will, of course, be keeping an eye on press coverage, and have been in contact with local organizers should they need to get the word out to the wider Pagan community.

Filed Under: Paganism, Religion Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 23 Comments

Helping the Saints Win

February 8, 2010 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 13 Comments

I’m not much of a sports fan, but I did end up watching the second half of last night’s Super Bowl between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. While the Saints seem like a well-honed and remarkably skilled unit, at least to my inexperienced eyes, I was also struck by how “lucky” the team seemed in those final quarters of the game. Did they have some “outside” help? Religion reporter Gary Stern noted that many of the Saints are devout Christians, who quickly thanked God for the victory.

“Well, that was quite a game. You have to feel good for the city of New Orleans, no matter which team you root for. Coming five years after Katrina, the Saints’ big win seems perfectly scripted. By whom? A bunch of Saints players are saying that it was “God’s plan” that they beat the Colts.”

But thinking about the religious and cultural climate of New Orleans, I had some other notions of who might deserve a thank-you. Lisa Johnson, sister of retired football pro Eric Dickerson, and a root-worker for several NFL stars, tells Gawker that the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

“The Colts were up against every single “Southern root doctor, voodoo priest, and conjurer” in the Bayou last night. Johnson knew the Saints were getting special help when she watched the NFC Championship against the Vikings two weeks ago: quarterback Brett Favre took a beating, playing terribly after a whole season of the best football of his long career. ”I guarantee you,” she said, “when he got up at the end of the game, he felt like an old man.” The conjurers went to work on the Colts the week before the game … From midnight to 5 a.m.—”the witching hour”—the conjurers “burn candles, sage and tobacco” Chicken feet were used to curse opposing players and protect the Saints. By the time the game started, Johnson knew the Colts couldn’t win…“

While I’m sure there were some practitioners in Indianapolis trying their best to influence the outcome, they were probably out-gunned by sheer numbers alone. For weeks the media has been hinting that alongside Christian prayers, many fans were trying to appease the spirit of Marie Laveau, or engage in some root-work to make the win happen. Indeed, many commentators, despite thinking the Colts were technically better, decided there were too many mystical intangibles working for the Saints to lose.

“Sure, Peyton Manning is the most ruthlessly clinical surgeon under center since Joe Montana. But he tempted the fates. He might have offended New Orleans’ late voodoo queen Marie Laveau along the way. Or did you miss the “gris-gris” bestowed upon the once-favorite son of the South? Brett Favre, who grew up a Saints fan in neighboring Mississippi and later became King Creole, had the audacity to ride into the Louisiana Superdome with Minnesota. He needed a mere five yards or so to set up a game-winning field-goal attempt in the waning seconds. And as he rolled right, the field opened up. Then, as if someone (Laveau?) stuck a pin in the right arm of his purple-clad voodoo doll, Favre uncorked a cross-body pass. Interception. Overtime. Favre never touched the ball again. The erstwhile Aints were Super Bowl-bound.”

So as Get Religion explores the many Christian dimensions of yesterday’s Super Bowl, let’s also acknowledge that there was plenty of “extracurricular” spiritual activity happening on the side-lines. I mean, can you have a big win in New Orleans without thanking God and the spirits? Something tells me there are going to be plenty of offerings left at crossroads, graves, and shrines in the coming weeks alongside the “amens” in church.

Filed Under: Religion Tagged With: , , , , , , , 13 Comments

Painted Sidewalks and a Mother's Grief

January 2, 2009 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 1 Comment

The Times-Picayune brings us the story of a Wiccan mother, Susan “Willow” Schroeder, who responded to her son’s shooting death by painting her house, fence, and surrounding sidewalk with colorful designs and patterns.  Schroeder, who fought having her house demolished last year, is now dealing with an angry neighbor unhappy with the painted sidewalk, and a city that seems to be able to enforce sidewalk painting but unable to actually repair sidewalks in the neighborhood.


Susan “Willow” Schroeder and Karen “Feather” Espeut.

“Schroeder continued working out her misery through a sprawling memorial, covering her entire yard and every inch of her home, inside and out. Since the 2001 murder, most of her neighbors have watched the kaleidoscopic transformation with empathy for her inestimable loss. In a city that proudly embraces eccentrics, they say, the house fits right in. But one neighbor, JoAnn Taylor, didn’t share their tolerance. She called the encroaching sidewalk paint “harassment,” a frightful abomination. Soon, she enlisted City Hall in her quest to get the sidewalk returned to its usual gray.”

JoAnn Taylor and her husband call the house “spooky” and that it looks like a “witch’s house” (oh, the irony), and while Schroeder has erected a large fence to block their view of the house, they are still on a warpath to have all paint removed from public property. As for the city, a spokesperson said that Schroeder will soon be fined $100 a day until it is removed, and that the city, ultimately, may paint it over for her (at her expense). Meanwhile, her other neighbors seem to appreciate the mother’s artistic therapy writ large.

Most neighbors, however, seem to relate to the garden and the other paintings. “I like it,” said Roland Brown, who has lived his entire 20 years two houses away and knew Ayo. He sees images of himself and other longtime residents in the mural in the park. “It’s the whole neighborhood on there,” he said … Down the block, Larry Anderson talked about his fondness for Schroeder’s garden, where he said he sometimes goes to seek peace … Rose Gentry, 79, who lives directly across the street, said she likes to sit on her porch and look at Schroeder’s house. It reminds her of country houses, like the ones she grew up near in St. Francisville. Almost every day, she said, people stop outside and take photographs. She said she’s baffled that anyone would object …

This struggle brings to light the tensions between communal art, individual creative expression, and the laws designed to keep order and peace. While JoAnn Taylor and the city are clearly in their legal rights, the rest of the neighborhood seems to appreciate the art and Schroeder’s contributions to their community. One would hope that some sort of compromise could be reached that won’t incur fines and hard feelings all-around, but it appears to be too late for that.

Filed Under: Paganism Tagged With: , , , , , 1 Comment

Celebrating the Livingston Parish Win

December 20, 2008 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 5 Comments

Back in the beginning of October I reported that Wiccan Cliff Eakin had been successful in his efforts to have a local anti-fortune telling ordinance overturned in Livingston Parish, LA. Now MagickTV has produced a four-part series that features interviews with Eakin and his lawyer, and includes footage of the party held for the official signing of the settlement papers (and featuring Raymond Buckland as an official witness).

Here are links to all four episodes: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4. Kudos to the MagickTV crew for doing this important primary-source journalism and creating a document of this win for the broader Pagan community.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 5 Comments
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