• Former COG First Officer and Officers of Avalon president Peter Dybing has issued a request to the Pagan community for donations to 100 Percent for Haiti, and organization founded by artists looking to assist Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. Quote: “Today I am placing the call. Can you please support this worthy effort? We are not seeking large sums of money. It is in fact our small size that makes us so effective. We have no fancy fundraising materials, no adopt-a-child program, no tear jerking commercials, only real people making a difference with what little we have. Please consider joining us, committing to give a little in support of this effort. If you find that you can not commit funds to this effort, please forward this to others who may be able to assist.”
• Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann writes about her time studying occultists in the 1980s for Freq.uenci.es (which led to the infamous book “Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft”). This leads Pagan scholar Chas Clifton to explain what made Luhrmann’s work controversial in the first place, and how it partially inspired the book “Researching Paganisms”. Also, check out Chas Clifton’s post on the necessity of the Iliad for modern polytheism.
• This Friday, Veterans Day, a new Pagan podcast entitled Pagan Warrior Radio will launch focused on serving Pagan veterans and those on active duty in the United States Military. This new weekly internet radio show will be hosted by co-founders Pamela Kelly, facilitator of the Sheppard Air Force Base Pagan Circle, and Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary. Quote: “Pagans have served and are serving in each of the branches of the US Armed Forces. We are creating Pagan Warrior Radio as an additional way to support Pagan veterans and troops and their loved ones, and to be a forum for networking, education, and dialogue. Shows will be a mix of news, information, music, reflections, ideas, and call-in discussion.”
• The Esoteric Book Conference in Seattle is now accepting proposals for next year’s conference. Deadline for proposals is January 15th, 2012. For more on the EBC, check out the recent guest-post from Dr. Amy Hale on the event.
• The Huffington Post looks at the important role botanicas play within the Latino community in the United States. Quote: “This is an old tradition that in part is a response to the lack of more formal resources, such as physicians, that Latinos have continuously utilized,” said David Hayes-Bautista, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the UCLA School of Medicine. “The tradition has been buttressed by the fact that Latino communities have usually had very poor access to formal medical care.”
• A rabbinical court in Haifa, Israel has fined a woman for the practice of witchcraft. This included a polygraph test, and consultations of texts to find an alternative to stoning her dead (no, I’m not joking). Quote:  “The wife denied her husband’s charge that she practiced witchcraft, but she failed a polygraph test, leading the court to determine that she in fact had been practicing witchcraft. Death is the punishment for witchcraft in the Torah, but the rabbis found a source that instead allowed them to mete out the financial penalty.” Oh, and did I mention the husband cheated on her, and that they were trying to get a divorce? Yeah, stay classy Haifa rabbinical court.
• Is the fantasy genre inherently Christian? DG Myers thinks so, but ED Kain rebuts that it’s far more pagan than Christian in its outlook and orientation. Quote: “I think that fantasy is not founded in Christian themes so much as it is rooted in distinctly Anglo-Saxon mythology. And not just the mythology of the Medieval, feudalistic period, but the pre-Christian myths of the faerie-folk as well.” More here, and here.
• Tomorrow is the Thai festival of Loy Krathong, a time to honor the goddess of the river, and ask “her forgiveness for man’s polluting of the water and to thank her for fertility.” More on this at the Washington Post.
• Broadmoor Hospital Chaplaincy Service in Berkshire says it is “responding to requests for pagan and Rastafarian input” for its in-house chaplaincy team.
• Sentencing in the James Arthur Ray sweat lodge deaths case has finally begun. First witnesses in the six days of hearings were very critical of Ray and his methods.
• So this has to be one of the most bizarre claims I’ve read in awhile: six ‘Curse of Tutankhamun’ deaths were actually murders perpetrated by Aleister Crowley according to Mark Beynon, author of “London’s Curse: Murder, Black Magic and Tutankhamun in the 1920s West End”. The Telegraph breaks down the accusations and there seems to be no hard, credible, evidence (something the author admits). In essence, if Crowley, or anyone he knew, crossed paths with a “victim” he could have done it. The whole thing is a smear-job designed to sell books to the gullible.
• Remember kids, practice safe Satanic sex.

That’s all I have time for today, expect a write-up of my FaerieCon adventures in the near-ish future. In the meantime, do check out my interview with Qntal’s Michael Popp at A Darker Shade of Pagan. As always, some of these stories may be expanded upon in future posts.

• If the embryonic Rick Perry candidacy has done one thing of real merit, it has been to inspire mainstream media coverage of the New Apostolic Reformation. Wednesday’s edition of Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC featured an interview with Forrest Wilder of the Texas Observer, who has been closely covering Rick Perry’s new religious allies. This has led other outlets, like Salon.com’s War Room to also take note. In fact, those of us who’ve been early adopters in following this pernicious religious movement have been spoiled for choice lately. The question now is if this spike in coverage is adequate sunlight antiseptic against their infection of spiritual warfare tactics? As for Wilder, he says coverage of “The Response” has been shallow, at best.
• Peter Dybing, National First Officer of Covenant of the Goddess, has issued a call “for ministers of all faiths and political persuasions to take a stand” against Dominionists who “seek to enslave the entire nation to their religious values for their own good.”
• A judge in Illinois has denied an inmate’s request for a copy of Anton LaVey’s the Satanic Bible. The State Department of Corrections argued that the book encouraged “hatred and violence.” Beth Winegarner at the Backward Messages blog weighs in on the case, saying that “only in a society where some religions are favored over others could a judge — whose salary is paid by the people — tell a member of one faith that he cannot have access to his holy text, when access to such texts while imprisoned is otherwise protected by law.”
• Did you like Thor comics but wish they were more Celtic? Well, today is your lucky day, Marvel Comics has announced that the Celtic thunder-god Tanarus will be (no doubt temporarily) replacing the Norse god after the current major crossover epic wraps up. I’m personally waiting for the debut of Lugus: Lord of the Lightning Flash!
• Religion Dispatches reports that the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations has issued General Comment No. 34, which explores freedom of speech under international law, and says that “prohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the Covenant.” The document also rejects “any restrictions on the operation of websites, blogs or any otherinternet-based, electronic or other such information dissemination system.” Austin Dacey sees this as a serious step forward in eliminating blasphemy laws, saying it will give a legal framework for those trying to push reforms.
• I’m a little behind the curve on this one, but fantasy author Mercedes Lackey released a new collection of novellas at the end of 2010 entitled “Trio of Sorcery” that revisits fan-favorite (and Pagan-favorite) character Diana Tregarde. It’s been twenty years since the last book in that series, “Jinx High,” was published, and Lackey had long-soured on publishing any more stories with that character due to obsessive stalkers and death threats by disturbed individuals who thought Lackey was a documentarian and not a fantasy novelist. With the current boom in the urban fantasy genre, and with some water under the bridge, is Lackey thinking of returning to her Witchy protagonist again for new full-length novels?
• Former political candidate and (alleged) Witchcraft-dabbler Christine O’Donnell is making news again thanks to the publication of her new book “Troublemaker,” where she addresses the “dabble-gate” missteps of her 2010 Delaware senate campaign. O’Donnell calls the infamous “I’m not a Witch” ad “a wrong-headed move, made for all the wrong reasons, but it was mine.”
• At Witchvox, Heather Awen addresses of issue of using strip-mined crystals as spiritual tools, prompting a thoughtful meditation on the subject from Lupa at her Therioshamanism blog. At her own blog, Awen gives tips on greening your rituals.
• Here at Patheos P. Sufenas Virius Lupus asks “what does sexual liberty look like?” Lupus notes that “as polytheists, and as people who claim to be “earth-based” and “nature-based” in their spiritualities and theologies, there is absolutely no reason to view gender variance or diversity of sexual orientation—which exists in abundance in non-human animal natures—as anything to be upset over or worried about, so long as it is carried out in ways that are also appropriate to human nature and social conventions.”
• Finally, let me give a warm welcome to the Pagan Newswire Collective’s news bureau: PNC-Texas (aka Lonestar Pagan)! They’ve already got some great stuff up, and I look forward to their future participation. Oh, and while I’m on the subject of the PNC, we’re looking for a motivated media-savvy volunteer to be our new Bureaus Coordinator, if you’re interested in this important role, do drop us a line.

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.

Absent Christian Soldiers: Remember that story a couple weeks ago about a Christian group in Dorset, England who were going to hold vigils outside a pub in order to “combat” a Pagan moot (social gathering)? Well, it turns out they didn’t show up.

“A Pagan moot in Bridport last week went ahead without any trouble after a planned Christian demonstration never materialised. [...] Despite the Christian group announcing to the press they expected “a high turn out” no one showed up at the venue on the night.”

That’s right, not a single Christian prayer warrior braved the elements to do some anti-Pagan praying. Instead, triple the number of Pagans who usually attend showed up, and they raised some money for the Dorset County Hospital’s Kingfisher Ward. Obviously Pagans meeting in pubs and donating to charity is something that should be stopped, and I’m shocked that these Christian Soldiers who have vowed to halt “evil” failed in their quest.

The Blessed Ex-Satanist: Maybe those Christian Soldiers should take a page from the Blessed Bartolo Longo, a Catholic lay-leader who had once joined a “Satanic” group in Italy during the late 19th century. Once converted, he had no qualms about acting like a jerk around the people he used to hang out with.

To prove his new-found commitment to Christ and His Church Bartolo even attended a séance. In the midst of it, he stood and raised a medal of the Blessed Virgin Mother and cried out: “I renounce spiritism because it is nothing but a maze of error and falsehood.”

See? These are the kind of people who don’t get invited to the cool spirit-invoking parties. As for the article itself, the author seems to be unsure if Longo was “New Age,” “pagan,” or a “Satanist.” But I suppose such distinctions matter little if you believe they are all going to the same place.

We’re All Neo-Pagans Now: Former Wild Hunt guest contributor Lee Gilmore, author of “Theater in a Crowded Fire: Ritual and Spirituality at Burning Man”, writes an essay for the University of Southern California blog The Scoop on modern Paganism. Entitled “Boy Wizards, Green Living, Blue Aliens: We’re All Neo-Pagans Now,” the piece touches on our growth, treatment in the media, Patrick McCollum’s court case, and the “allure of magic and witchcraft” in popular culture.

“In the broader culture, Paganism remains comparatively small in numbers, but influential in terms of the broader cultural trends it embodies. The definitive number of American Pagans remains elusive, but reasonable estimates place the number between 750,000 to 1.2 million, or possibly more. Religious censuses like the Pew Forum’s Religious Landscape survey often lump Pagans in with “Other/New Age” faiths, thus missing the extent to which the values that typify Neo-Paganism are increasingly found in other arenas.

The allure of magic and witchcraft— whether in practice or in fancy—also bubbles up in cultural phenomena like the “Harry Potter” franchise and the new Wiccan subplot in HBO’s “True Blood.” There is also a growing cultural turn toward “green spirituality” in which individuals and faith communities strive to value ecological sustainability and to seek harmony between nature and the sacred. And while it may seem like old news, the widespread and ongoing fascination with the romantic, pantheistic world of “Avatar“—along with its sequels in the offing—is also part of this important cultural trend.”

In her closing, Gilmore notes that reporters would  “do well to take a closer look at Paganism, and other minority faiths,” a sentiment I heartily agree with. Be sure to read the whole thing, she has some incisive analysis, particularly of the McCollum case.

• One positive thing that has come out of the recent Ninth Circuit Court decision in Patrick McCollum’s case against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is that mainstream religion-news outlets like Religion Dispatches are taking notice of Christian pseudo-historian David Barton’s part in the proceedings.
• A reality-based web series on a group of young Witches in Salem is set to debut this Fall. It will, naturally, take part during the Halloween season and will the see the Witches “interact with Pagan and Witch Elders.” Place your bets now as to who these “highly-recognized teachers” will be!
• The Atlanta Post features an essay by Ezinne Adibe that deals with attacks on African Traditional Religions. While the piece briefly mentions Pat Robertson’s slur against Vodou in Haiti, and traditional practices that have survived in America, the bulk of the article talks about the witch-hunting phenomenon in Africa.
• The Los Angeles Times interviews Rob Young, author of “Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music” (now out in paperback), in the piece Young calls historian Ronald Hutton one of his models for the book (which is very good).
• Time Magazine spotlights a self-proclaimed “proud Pagan” who is either so desperate for attention that he has taken leave of all good sense, or he truly is the kind of man who’d accuse his ex-girlfriend of aborting his baby on a highway billboard. He’s on such morally shaky ground that even the local pro-life groups have abandoned him, and the more people dig, the less there is to like.
• The documentary “Raw Faith,” about the faith journey of UU minister Marilyn Sewell, is seeing a limited theatrical release this month. More: here. Thought my UU Pagan readers might appreciate the heads-up.
• The U.S. Army has appointed its first Hindu chaplain. Like the Buddhist chaplain appointed in 2009, it happened through a conversion process (a process that didn’t work for Pagan Don Larsen). Will this continue to open the door for an eventual Pagan chaplain? Thanks to Chas Clifton for the heads-up.
• Indian Country looks at the movement to embrace Two-Spirits (LGBT members of American Indian tribes). You can check out the documentary “Two Spirits,” here.
• The defense case in the James Arthur Ray trial has begun after yet another attempt to have the charges dropped was denied.
• Catholic site First Things goes there with the Ayn Rand – Anton LaVey/Church of Satan connection. I am truly, honestly, surprised that it has taken this long.

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.

“This page is dedicated to spreading awareness of minority faiths, non-faith, religions, and practices. This page also aims to hold the media accountable for poor portrayal of minority faiths, and general spread of misinformation of these faiths and individual members/practitioners.”

They are just getting started up, so if you’re on Facebook, why not join them and help in their endeavour to give outrage and frustration with how the media handles minority faiths a productive outlet.

Former Get Religion contributor and religion journalist Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans has posted the second part in her series on New Age and Pagan religions for the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal (part one is here). I am again quoted in the column.

Paganism is a still-vital spirituality, one whose influence is difficult to calibrate. Modern paganism, a relative newcomer on the American scene, is an umbrella term for several distinct religions, pagan journalist Jason Pitzl-Waters said in a telephone interview. ”While surveys suggest roughly a million pagan practitioners in America,” he said, “if you count people who have unorthodox religious views, then there are many millions of people.” [...]  When pagan thought was imported from Great Britain in the 1960s, in large part thanks to the work of British writer and Wiccan Gerald Gardner, it found a temporary home  in the New Age arena, Pitzl-Waters said. ”There was enough overlap between our spirituality that when modern paganism appeared on the scene, it found a safe haven,” he said. But paganism has features that distinguish it from New Age spiritualities, Pitzl-Waters said. One example: “Paganism is very much a here-and-now theology,” he said.

It’s a nice column, though I would have expanded on the differences between New Age spirituality and modern Pagan religions. I’d also like to quibble and state that Raymond Buckland deserves mention as a force that brought Wicca to America. I’ve opined before on how many Pagans found safe haven and resources at New Age shops and events during the years when we were far more isolated and dependent on friendly fellow travelers. I came of age as that alliance was crumbling, and modern Pagans were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with being lumped in with New Age practitioners, taking pains to point out our different theologies and histories.

But enough about me! Before I go I wanted to quickly share a few links that I wasn’t able to round up yesterday.

• It seems I missed out on the fact that Mrs. B from Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom has been receiving death threats for the great sin of winning a ranking contest on the Internet. It’s sad that some Christians are so threatened that they would spit on the savior they claim to follow with such reverence. In the meantime, vote for Mrs B and all the other Pagan mom blogs!
• CNN’s Belief Blog reports on a study by Cimminnee Holt that examines attitudes towards death and dying within modern Satanism. According to Holt “Satanists are, literally, creating their own afterlife in the memories of those they have affected.”
• The prosecution in the James Arthur Ray case has rested. The defense has called, yet again, for the case to be dismissed. If it isn’t (and it probably won’t be, just like all the other motions to dismiss so far) we’ll hear from the defense’s witnesses next week. More here.
• Rhett Aultman breaks down the McCollum ruling on standing, explaining why he thinks the decision was sound and what steps we should be taking from this point. I’ll have lots more on this in the future, but I just wanted to give a heads-up on this now, so folks can read up.
• Amy Hale wrestles with the use of the term “elder” within the modern Pagan community, noting that there been increasing “institutionalization of the term” and wonders if there are aspects of appropriation in its adoption.

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

State attorneys used as evidence photos of the teen with dyed black hair and dark makeup, a document with the word “curse” that was to be read over a black candle, handwritten quotes on her bedroom walls and inscriptions that a prosecutor claimed were quotations from the founder of the Satanic Church. The evidence was “clearly integral to the state’s strategy of portraying appellant as a deviant capable of murdering her mother, in the absence of any other evidence suggesting she had a violent or angry nature,” said the opinion, written by Chief Justice Carol Hunstein. It found that the teen’s alleged satanic beliefs “bore no specific nexus with the crime.”

Outside of her alleged Satanism and goth proclivities there was no direct evidence tying Boring to her mother’s murder. The district attorney even said at the time that this was a “difficult circumstantial evidence case.” Alexandria has consistently denied shooting her mother, none of her friends or teachers implicated her, and evidence that Debra’s husband was a verbally abusive alcoholic seemingly ignored. It has been very clear from the start that this conviction was based on “othering” her, creating a monster from black clothing and Anton LaVey quotations.

“Evidence presented during the trial included symbols and writings that were attributed to satanic rituals. During his closing arguments, Baird read a curse found at the crime scene that left some observers in the courtroom saying it made the hair on the backs of their necks stand on end.“

Imagine if Alexandria was a teenager you knew. Her books could have been Wiccan books, or Druid books, or from any other minority religion that teaches or encourages the use of magic. So long as it was strange and foreign enough to that jury to win a conviction. This is a phenomenon that stretches far beyond this case, there are dozens of examples of injustice thanks to misunderstandings about Pagan, occult, and minority religions. Custody cases, prisoner free exercise cases, property tax cases, so long as you can use society’s fears and ignorance to your advantage. It is doubly galling to me seeing the Goth subculture once again demonized, as it was in the wake of Columbine, despite any solid evidence that violence is pervasive that subculture.

Boring remains in prison pending a decision on whether prosecutors will seek a retrial. However, their case, such as it was, will be hobbled by the Georgia Supreme Court’s ruling. No one really knows what happened in the murder of Debra Boring, it’s even conceivable that Alexandria might be guilty. But any conviction that relies on Satanic quotes, teenage “curse” spells, and how dark the defendant’s makeup is, deserves to overturned, and the prosecutors held up for criticism. This is why Pagan media matters, this is why Pagan outreach matters, this why the countless Pagan activists, volunteer chaplains, and interfaith participants matter, and this is why I continue to fight.

In Defense of Magic: Andrew Sullivan points to an excellent essay by Jessa Crispin, editor and founder of Bookslut.com, that talks about the endurance of religion, of irrational beliefs, of magic, in a seemingly rational and increasingly secular age. In the process she discusses two new books, Ronald Hutton’s “Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain,” and Nevill Drury’s “Stealing Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Modern Western Magic”.

“Wasn’t the Enlightenment supposed to wash the world of its sins of superstition and religion? And yet humanity keeps clinging to its belief systems, its religious leaders, and its prayer. More than that, we’re dipping back into the magical realms — one would think that if superstition were to be eradicated through the power of reason and rationality, magic would be the first to go. It turns out our hunger for the irrational and the intuitive is more insatiable than previously assumed. We have our Kabbalah, our Chaos Magick, our Druids. We have our mystics and tarot card readers and our astrologers on morning news shows explaining why Kate and William are a match made by the gods. Wicca is a fast growing religion in the United States, and my German health insurance covers homeopathy and Reiki massage, both of which have always felt more like magic than science to me.”

The whole thing is well worth reading, a defense against the atheists who have trouble acknowledging that these beliefs fill a need in us, while owning the excesses and subconscious drives that fuel adherence to illogical practices.

Believing in Satan(ists): Erik Davis reprints an essay he wrote on religious Satanism, reviewing a 2009 scholarly anthology edited by Jesper Aagaard Petersen entitled “Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology”. I was particularly drawn to his critique of the elasticity of the term “Satanism”, and how that might matter to modern Pagans.

“While Peterson makes a good claim for the relative elasticity of the term Satanism, there are problems with the term that become more apparent the farther the topic departs from LaVey’s legacy. Though the figure of Satan has been drastically recontextualized, his name and essential iconography still fundamentally imply an oppositional or even parasitic relationship to the broader Judeo-Christian tradition. But as the transgression of Christian norms loses its spunk, and as the broad course of Neo-paganism and contemporary ritual magic reframe occult practice within more eclectic, global and, increasingly, “shamanic” contexts, it is inevitable that the specifically Satanic current loses some nominal coherence. In this sense, the splitting off of Michael Aquino’s Temple of Set from LaVey’s Church of Satan in 1975 is paradigmatic, as Aquino replaced LaVey’s cocktail-sipping devil with a more sober and recondite Egyptian god. Should Setians still be called “Satanists”? If the answer is yes, aren’t scholars running the risk of shoe-horning darkside practitioners and metaphysicians into a homogenous framework that unintentionally parrots fundamentalist Christian exegetes for whom Odin, Kali, and Harry Potter are all masks of a single Dark Lord? If the answer is no, does the “Satanic milieu” that the contributors to this volume have done such a fine job of clarifying lose broader explanatory power?”

The blurry ground between “post-Satanic” belief systems and modern Paganism hasn’t really been fully explored. “Dark” (or “Nocturnal”) Paganism has become a marketing term in recent years, and I believe more study is warranted on the intersections of subculture, Left-Hand Paths, post-Satanic systems, and modern Paganism. As for Davis, I highly recommend his most recent collection of essays entiled “Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica”.

The Substance of Thor (and Loki): Over at Killing the Buddha, Eric Scott, who recently shared his mixed feelings over marketing Nordic gods in “Valhal-Mart,” shares his review of the Marvel Comics film “Thor.”

“My understanding of the ancient Germanic myths revolves around two themes. The first is that virtue consists of equal parts strength and wisdom. The second is the Germanic worldview of an entropic universe, where civilization will always fall into ruin. Beneath its hammy, explosion-filled superhero veneer, Thor deals with both of these themes. Thor’s character development exemplifies the first, as we watch the bold and foolish prince grow wise. Loki exemplifies the second: despite his good intentions, Loki falls, becoming a monster in the name of ending monsters.

So what should pagans take away from this movie? Certainly not mythological accuracy: if you only knew the myths, most of the film will probably seem nonsensical. I admit that the mythological discrepancies still leave me conflicted, if only because they drastically alter the relationships among some of these deities. But I left the theater feeling much better about Thor than I expected; while it may not get any of the surface right, it captures a surprising amount of the substance. Thor gives us the glories and the tragedies of Norse mythology, if we’re willing to abide a little trickery in the delivery. Loki would be proud.”

For more on “Thor” see my roundup of religiously-themed takes on  the film. You may also want to check out all of Eric Scott’s essays at KtB.

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