Tomorrow I’ll be on a flight to Maryland for the 2011 FaerieCon event, at which I’ll be conducting interviews, taking pictures, and moderating panel discussions (in addition to seeing Qntal in concert).

Since I’m not sure I’ll have enough time to blog properly while also covering the event, I’ve arranged a variety of guest-posters during my absence to keep the lights on here at The Wild Hunt. Tomorrow we’ll be featuring a guest-post from Patheos columnist and Killing the Buddha Contributing Editor Eric Scott, and we have several other wonderful Pagan voices lined in the days to follow. Patheos Pagan Portal manager Star Foster will be behind the scenes making sure the trains run on time. I’ll return on Tuesday, and should have some great coverage to share when I get back!

In the meantime, before I go, here are some news stories I’d like to share with you.

• On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Utah Highway Patrol Association v. American Atheists. The case regarded large metal crosses in Utah erected along the highway to honor state highway patrol officers who died in the line of duty. At the heart of this issue was if the Christian cross could be considered a secular symbol of death. The 10th Circuit Court rejected this notion, noting the obvious fact that a Christian symbol cannot represent all peoples and religions in the United States. Now, with certiorari denied, and the 10th Circuit decision upheld, Utah will have to dismantle the crosses.
• Reverend Carlton Veazey, President and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice writes an op-ed for Religion Dispatches calling the pro-life “personhood” agenda “theocratic” in nature. Quote: “in the fashion of those who are determined to embed their religious views in law, there is no acknowledgement that there are other, equally valid views. Because there are a variety of views on such a basic question as “the beginning of life,” the constitution guarantees that decisions about contraception and abortion will be protected by law. And that is where the matter should rest.”
• A Slate.com article on female craft beer producers reminds us that it was women (and goddesses) who gave us the gift of beer. Quote: “Brewing is currently seen as a male field, but it wasn’t always this way. What’s believed to be the world’s oldest written recipe is for beer, and it celebrates a female brewmaster. Four-thousand-year-old Mesopotamian clay tablets describe the brewing process in a hymn to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer. From ancient Sumeria through medieval Europe, women ruled the kettles.”
• Finally, in a bit of Pagan Newswire Collective news, I’d like to welcome Lupa and Eli Effinger-Weintraub to their new roles as writers for No Unsacred Place, the PNC’s nature and environmental issues blog. I look forward to their contributions!

That’s all I have for now, enjoy the guest-posts, see you on Tuesday!

Top Story: A Pagan temple under construction in Poltava, Ukraine, was vandalized, and its keeper hospitalized, at the end of September, sparking waves of sadness and outrage among the global Pagan movement. M. Horatius Piscinus at the Patheos blog Religio et Pietas had the first report on October 1st, identifying it as a Nova Roma temple dedicated to Jupiter Perennus.

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!

Top Story: Solar Cross, a non-profit religious organization dedicated to pan-magical practice, worship, education, research and outreach, co-founded by T. Thorn Coyle, Jonathan Korman, and Robert Russell, has announced the official launch of their organization’s e-publishing venture.

“Solar Cross is pleased to announce the official launch of our e-publishing venture with the release of the formerly out of print Magick of Qabalah. This is the first in a line of magickal, esoteric, and Pagan books to be issued from the LVX/NOX and Sunna Press imprints. We are committed to bringing forth both original and out of print books as well as shorter works on practice and craft.”

Their first release is “The Magick of Qabalah” by British author Kala Trobe and is currently available via Amazon, with more platforms to be rolled out shortly. Future releases from the LVX/NOX and Sunna Press e-publishing imprints include works by  T. Thorn Coyle, Diana Paxson, and Shen-tat. With the large number of Pagan and occult works that are out of print, this is an exciting and useful first step in using the power of digital publishing to rescue lost classics and important developmental works in the history of our communities. I’m hoping this is the start of a far larger trend.

In Other News:

• Speaking of e-publishing, two well-received Pagan works are now available in digital formats for the first time. Erynn Rowan Laurie’s “Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom” and Margot Adler’s seminal “Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America” (check out The Wild Hunt’s interview with Margot Adler on the release of the 2006 edition of the book).
• Mary K. Greer lets us know about an incredible discovery in the world of tarot, a second set of painted images commissioned by A.E Waite ten years after the now-famous illustrations done by Pamela Coleman Smith. These works were done by stained glass artist J. B. Trinick, and an effort is now underway to have them professionally photographed and published. Greer calls this “the biggest discovery in Tarot this century.”
• Haters gonna hate watch: Long-time anti-Paganism crusader Linda Harvey believes LGBT people don’t really exist, and John Hagee lets us know that “secular humanism is a pagan god and America is bowing at the shrine.”
• The landlord of the Phoenix Goddess Temple has terminated their lease. You can read all of my coverage of this issue, here.
• Saudi Arabia has beheaded Abdul Hamid al-Fakki, a Sudanese citizen, for practicing “witchcraft and sorcery.” Last year Amnesty International called for the commutation of his death sentence. Saudi Arabia’s threshold for charges of “sorcery” are completely arbitrary, as evidenced by the case of Lebanese citizen Ali Sibat, who barely escaped the death penalty after an international uproar.

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

King Arthur vs. Archeology: British Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon (no, not that Arthur Pendragon) has failed in his attempt to force reburial of human remains found at Stonehenge, claiming the 5000-year-old cremated remains were of a royal “priest caste,” potential founding fathers of Britain.

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!

Top Story: In the second part of a six-part series on the geopolitical ramifications of global warming in the Arctic, NPR’s Morning Edition focuses on Russia’s aggressive push to claim waterways and resources becoming available as the Arctic ice melts. One group that is particularly concerned over the rush to claim the Arctic is the indigenous Saami people, a group native to the Kola Peninsula of Russia. NPR interviews traditional singer Nadezhda Lyashenko, who discusses the environmental consequences of this rush to exploit one of the few remaining untouched regions on our planet.

Nadezhda Lyashenko. Photo: David Greene/NPR

The indigenous people of this region bore much of the brunt. The Saami tribe, for one, has lived centuries in Russia’s northwest, near the Norwegian border. Saami people were forcibly collectivized on farms under Stalin. Nadezhda Lyashenko, the Saami woman singing traditional tribal music here, can recount the horror stories. Her grandfather, a reindeer shepherd, was shot in 1937, accused of being a spy after he crossed into Finland chasing a reindeer herd. After decades of relative peace, Lyashenko says, trouble seems to be returning to her native Arctic lands. She sees Russia and other world powers in a race for oil and gas, ignoring the potential impact to a part of the Earth that’s been rarely touched. “The Arctic is just so fragile,” she says. “This time, it’s a research boat going out there. It’s like the prick of a needle, and the land will heal. But if they go with knives, with spears, they could break everything. And then what?”

The Saami and other indigenous peoples living in or near the Arctic, on the front lines of global climate change, could have much to teach us, if we are willing to listen. Sadly, the rights and concerns of the Saami are often ignored, or greeted with hostility by those who want economic development at any cost. For those who identify with the indigenous peoples and culture of Europe, the plight and position of the Saami should be of great concern. The trend of indigenous rights being undermined needs to be halted and reversed.

In Other News:

• Newsweek/The Daily Beast journalist Michelle Goldberg, author of “Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism”, explores Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and their ties to Dominionism. What’s crucial here is that Goldberg points out the theological differences between the Perry and Bachmann camps/supporters, and how Dominionist political ideas are pervasive through each. Andrew Sullivan says the “Christianists” have finally succeeded in taking over the Republican party.
• Salem Patch reports on a brawl between two shop-owners, Laurie Stathopoulos of Crow Haven Corner and Joanna Thomas of New England Magic. The fight ended when Thomas’ boyfriend broke the two up and maced Stathopoulos. Each camp blames the other for instigating the fight, both are being charged. Stathopoulos last made the news during the Charlie Sheen “warlock” affair.
• Contrary to popular belief evangelical Christians aren’t some hated and persecuted minority. That isn’t my opinion, that’s the opinion of Christianity Today, one that’s backed up by statistics and survey data. Quote: “If American evangelicals do have an image problem, it’s not our neighbors’ image of us; it’s our image of them. The 2007 Pew Forum study found that American Christians hold more negative views of “atheists” than non-Christians do of evangelical Christians.” Hat-tip to Slacktivist.
• The Hindu American Foundation has issued a report on Hinduism’s response to caste-based discrimination: Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste – Seeking an End to Caste-based Discrimination. In the ten-point summary of the report, HAF notes that the “key message of this report is that caste-based discrimination is not intrinsic to Hinduism, and that the solution lies within the eternal teachings of Hinduism.” Padma Kuppa, a member of the Hindu American Foundation’s Executive Council and the newly formed Hindu American Seva Charities, finds hope in the report.

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

Top Story: A local Nevada television station is reporting that Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, had her truck vandalized. The Stewart’s were at the heart of a campaign to grant Wiccan soldiers the right to have the pentacle engraved on their military tombstone or marker after ten years of stonewalling by the VA. While the act is attributed to local vandals, the report does explore the possibility that the brick thrown at her truck was connected to anti-Pagan sentiment.

But there’s another more remote, but more disturbing possibility: Roberta Stewart’s very public dispute with the Veteran’s Administration following her husband’s death. Although the Army recognized Patrick Stewart’s religion, it took a lawsuit against the V-A and government intervention to get the Wiccan faith’s symbol, a pentacle, placed on his marker at the veterans cemetery in Fernley. She won that fight, but the marker was vandalized shortly after it was installed. Roberta has continued to be a vocal advocate for religious tolerance and slain soldiers’ families. It’s a stance that still stirs strong emotions in some. She still gets angry emails. She doubts her truck was targeted for that reason, but can’t help but wonder. “We still get things where people don’t believe that we have the right to practice religious freedom, so it could have. I can’t be the one to answer that, but i would hope not.”

Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary, who worked closely with Roberta Stewart during the Veteran Pentacle Campaign, issued the following statement on her official Facebook Pagan.

“Please send healing, strength, and protection to Roberta Stewart, the courageous Wiccan Afghanistan War Widow who was with me on the front-lines of the successful quest to the get US Department of Veterans Affairs to add the Pentacle to the list of emblems that can be included on the grave markers they issue to honor deceased veterans.”

While this vandalism is terrible, I do hope that it truly was random, as evidence suggests, and not motivated by religious hatred. My best wishes go out to Roberta Stewart, may she have all the strength and healing she needs, and may the perpetrators be caught.

In Other News:

• Chas Clifton points to an essay by Egil Asprem, a Norwegian scholar of esotericism and contemporary Paganism, on Oslo terrorist/murderer Anders Behring Breivik’s use of Western esoteric language and symbols.
• COG Interfaith Reports has posted two reports (part one, part two) from NAIN Connect 2011, the annual meeting of the North American Interfaith Network. Covenant of the Goddess member Rachael Watcher, a longtime interfaith activist, was elected to the Executive Board of NAIN in 2010.
• At the Washington Post’s On Faith site, I weigh in on the now-infamous “stop voting for Pagans” speech made by Texas pastor John Hagee. I note that “if you wish to lead America, you can not toy with the idea of a political hierarchy of religions.” Head over and read the whole thing.
• Lamest excuse ever for hiding in a porta-potty for two days and leering at women? “I wanted to start a new goddess religion.” Those words, I do not think they mean what he thinks they mean.
• Can indigenous knowledge be patented or copyrighted? The World Intellectual Property Organization ponders the question.
• COG First Officer Peter Dybing on the transformative model of Pagan leadership.

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

Top Story: Though still small religious minorities throughout the world, contemporary Pagan groups have increasingly involved themselves in charitable campaigns, and created charities of their own. In Kansas City, Missouri Gaia Community, a Pagan Unitarian-Universalist congregation, raised a half-ton of food at the 2011 God Auction, which was donated to Harvesters Community Food Nework. It was estimated that the food raised was enough to provide for 795 meals.

Food raised by Gaia Community

“…one of the reasons we schedule this fund raiser in the summer is we know it’s a time when donations to Harvesters tend to be low, while demand for food is high with children out of school.” – David Reynolds, Gaia Community member

You can read more about Gaia Community’s efforts by downloading the press release for the event, or visiting their website. While Gaia Community raised food for an already existing charity, in Australia the Community Church of Inclusive Wicca Inc. (CCIWI) has started their own food pantry, which was just granted full tax deductibility status. The first Wiccan group, though not the first Pagan group, to achieve this. Founder Amethyst Treleven said that she was “very proud” to have her charity receive “the same recognition as other religious based charities which have traditionally been Christian organised.” CCIWI’s food pantry was founded so that Pagans in need could find aid without feeling pressured to “accept the faith of that charitable body,” and won’t have to “compromise their spiritual and religious beliefs.”

Those are just two examples of how Pagans are helping each other, and reaching out to help the communities we live in. Every year Pagans collect tons of food for charity though the annual Pagan Pride days, while several Pagan organizations engage in outreach, fundraising, and volunteer efforts. Back in 2003 Jim Towey, then-Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives, questioned the charitable instincts of Pagan groups. Since then Pagans in the United States, and around the world, have worked to show that though small in number, we have a true commitment to charity and helping others.

In Other News:

• Prominent Salem Witch and business owner Christian Day was censured by the Salem licensing board  for allegedly making threats against other Salem business owners and practicing fortunetellers. Day said he respected the decision of the board, “even though I may not agree entirely with it.” Day’s fortunetelling license was suspended for six months, but the penalty was put on hold for one year as long as there are no similar incidents. For more on Christian Day, check out my interview with him about Salem’s fortunetelling regulations.
• PNC-Minnesota covers the experiences of  Summerland Spirit Festival (SSF) attendees and organizers in Wisconsin, where a flash flood washed out a footbridge and temporarily stranded some campers.
• Hindu leader Rajan Zed has sent out Lughnasadh/Lammas greeting to Pagans, “wishing that it brought joy, happiness, blessings and cheer to all.” Rajan Zed gained international attention when his invocation before the United States Senate was disrupted by Christian extremists.
• Why should Christian morals dictate public policy in a multi-religious nation? Because they’re the biggest, that’s why. No, really. That’s the answer Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr gave to NPR: “I think only because of the sheer numbers in this democracy that we have.” Do you think their answer will change should they ever lose their majority status?

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