A few quick news notes for you on this Sunday morning.

Protecting Sacred Lands: The Environmental News Network reports that the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Oxford, in partnership with the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and World Database on Sacred Natural Sites (SANASI), is creating a world map that will display sacred and holy places, including forests in an attempt to raise awareness for biodiversity conservation.

Sacred stream in Tibet. Photo: Shonil Bhagwat

A team of scientists from the University of Oxford are working on a world map which shows all the land owned or revered by various world religions. This “holy map” will display all the sacred sites from Jerusalem’s Western Wall, to Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Just as interesting, the map will also show the great forests held sacred by various religions. Within these protected lands dwell a wide variety of life and high numbers of threatened species. [...] ”We urgently need to map this vast network of religious forests, sacred sites and other community-conserved areas to understand their role in biodiversity conservation,” added Dr. Shonil Bhagwat, also on the research team. “Such mapping can also allow the custodian communities, who have protected these sites for generations, to secure their legal status.”

It should be interesting to see the final results, and what the threshold will be to discern if something is holy/sacred. What about the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona? The Hill of Tara in Ireland? Would they be willing to list modern Pagan-owned lands like Circle Sanctuary or Stone City Pagan Sanctuary? Depending on where the line is drawn, much of the earth could be considered sacred and holy (especially if you’re a pantheist). It should also be interesting to see how this intersects with initiatives like Bolivia’s Law of Mother Earth.

The Interfaith Observer: COG Interfaith Reports announces that Rachael Watcher and Don Frew will be serving on the board for a new interfaith journal/website entitled The Interfaith Observer. Officially launching in September, the journal will endeavor to “explore interreligious relations and the interfaith movement as a whole.”

Don Frew at the Parliament of the World's Religions

“It will provide historical perspectives, survey current interfaith news, and otherwise provide maps and sign-posts for newcomers. It will offer a context to explore and respond to the new religious world around us. The Observer is designed as a resource for the general reader, anyone interested in the subject; but articles will be filled with references and links for those who wish to pursue a particular subject. Along with examining our spiritual and religious differences, the journal will inquire into shared core values, offer various perspectives on the unparalleled religious diversity enveloping humankind, reflect on theological and spiritual issues, and perhaps develop a social network for interfaith activists focused on service. A long-term goal is to help grow connective tissue between large interfaith ventures and stakeholders and the rest of us. We will promote the major institutional players. And provide space for the creative little guys all over the map who are doing wonderful new things.”

Wiccan Elder Don Frew says that TIO will “be to interfaith work what Beliefnet and Patheos have been to comparative religion.” With two Pagans on the ground floor of this new initiative I feel confident that our perspectives and ideas will be included in their content. The Interfaith Observer launches on September 15th.

Teenage Clergy: This year Ganesh Chaturthi falls on September first, a ten-day festival in honor of the god Ganesha. The BBC reports that in Mumbai there is such a shortage of priests for this festival that teenagers are being trained and recruited to lead the necessary ceremonies.

Photo courtesy of the BBC

According to one estimate, there are barely 3,500 priests in the city when it needs at least eight times the number. So the festival organisers have decided to train 700 young boys and girls this year so that more priests can be made available. Interestingly, many of the children taking the “crash course” in priesthood are girls. “I know there will be some hesitation [to hire us] in the beginning because we are so young and then we are girls. But once [the clients] know that we are as good as traditional priests, they will hire us,” says a visibly excited 15-year-old Neha. [...] ”If the children learn the scriptures which are available in a condensed form and take their job seriously they will be accepted,” says Ganesh Pandey, a veteran priest.

You can see a video of this report, here. Why is there a priest shortage in India? One explanation is that priesthood is no longer seen as a fiscally attractive role, and many children of traditional priests are going into finance and other fields. This shortage has created new opportunities for younger people who may not have had the opportunity to become ritual leaders before. For modern Pagans, I wonder if this development amongst our cousins in Hinduism could offer a lesson in how we approach our own future leaders? To integrate them more fully into our rites, give them more responsibilities, and not shy away from teaching them our faith?

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

Reviews for a new book by Christian author Jeffrey Dean, “The Fight of Your Life: Why Your Teen Is at Risk and What Only You Can Do About It”, have started to pop up, and it seems that Wicca is one of the “risks” teens face.

Even as he speaks bluntly about what’s really going on out there—from the new “cool homosexuality” and the rise of Wicca to the far-reaching effects of teen drug and alcohol use—Dean’s tone remains hopeful and encouraging, and for good reason.

Trying to figure out what exactly Dean says about Wicca in the book, I went to an excerpt on the publisher’s web site. There, Dean puts the dangers of Wicca into context for you.

This fight is about a tsunami of information, communication, anything- goes ethics, and the inevitable moral experimentation that results. It’s a world of light-speed Internet, texting, unlimited access to online porn, oral-sex parties, MySpace, cutting, Wicca, drinking, drugs, and more.

Yes, that’s right, Wicca is like porn, drug-use, cutting, and oral-sex parties (Seriously? Oral-sex parties? I thought that myth was debunked.).  Now, I didn’t expect Dean to endorse Wicca or modern Paganism, he is Christian after all, but this is the sort of hyperbole that leads to kids getting institutionalized and punished for simply believing differently. Wicca isn’t a warning sign, and it isn’t a form of self-abuse like cutting or drug-use. Dean also continually uses spiritual warfare language throughout the book, and seems to hint that children having a different (non-Christian) belief system must be aggressively combatted. So much for that “free will” thing that Christians say God gave them. The underlying message to teens here seems to be “hide your different beliefs if you have Christian parents”. After all, if a Christian parent allows their children to think differently, they could also start cutting, or using drugs, or attending oral-sex parties.

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

Donna “Darkwolf” Vos will be meeting the South African Air Force in court over claims that they unfairly dismissed her from chaplaincy work due to her religion.

“I applied (for the SAAF job), got it and worked for two weeks. My focus was to be on HIV and Aids, the problem of Satanism among the youth, and drugs and sex among the youth,” Vos said. She was due to undergo training in military routines in Pretoria, but was first called to a meeting with the official, a colonel. “I was told the meeting with this guy was a formality.” He was initially impressed by her qualifications, Vos said. But the conversation soured when she told him she was a pagan. “He was quite taken aback…I gave him a copy of my book (a guide to paganism in a South African context) and he said, ‘We can’t unleash you on 8 000 men’.” The colonel stopped their interview, Vos said, and promised to contact her within two weeks. But instead of phoning her, she said he sent her an e-mail in which he described paganism as ‘a cult’.”

Vos is hoping her complaint will force the South African military to change their “unconstitutional religious policies”, making it safe for Pagans in the military to be open about their faith. However, one strange twist in the case is that it happened in 2003, she didn’t file her complaint until 2006, and then “left the matter dormant” until 2008 according to the Bellville Equality Court. In fact, the current trial is to see if the Equality Court even has jurisdiction to hear this case, so it remains to be seen if things progress in Vos’s favor.

Art critic Jonathan Jones wonders if today’s spandex-wearing superheroes are equivalent to the gods and heroes of ancient myth.

“Is there any difference between the modern pantheon of superheroes and the myths of the Greeks or the Vikings? The sheer richness and resonance we find in these fabulous beings – the darkness of Batman, the sensitivity of Spiderman, the purity of Superman – resembles the richness of interpretation and portrayal that has made the Greek myths survive into modern times … The point is, these modern myths do resemble true myths – they have taken on the endurance of the great legends, they rival Robin Hood and King Arthur. What does this say about modern culture? Probably that it is far more in touch with its ancient, primal roots that either fans or detractors of modernity tend to admit.”

The “superheroes = gods of ancient myth” meme isn’t a new one. Artists and writers have been mining this territory for some time now. It is an idea that first gestated in the mind of Kirby and subsequently explored by modern comic-writers like Morrison and Moore. The question now is what does that mean? Should we approach these pop-culture figures as distinct entities of power, or see them as the result of a natural polytheism denied? Perhaps both?

To reiterate something I have said before: Witchcraft isn’t a warning sign! Sadly, a glowing piece on Florida’s early-intervention youth centers uncritically peddles the “alternative religion as mental health warning sign” meme.

“The Cookseys’ relationship with Amanda had deteriorated in the two years since they had adopted her at 15. (Her birth mother, already struggling, sustained a brain injury and could not provide adequate care.) The girl was defiant, lying and even dabbling in witchcraft, Ms. Cooksey said. After their fight in February, Amanda ran back to her biological mother’s house. The policeman who picked her up said he could take her home to the Cookseys or to the Capital City shelter.”

This is dangerous. Involvement in Wicca, Paganism, or some other non-Christian faith, shouldn’t be a check-box on some list of bad behavior. For someone who is truly troubled, clinging to Witchcraft or Paganism might be the only empowering thing in an otherwise unmoored life. For older foster kids, their religious individuality could be quashed or seen as illness/bad behavior if they are placed with a Christian household (and the chances of that are quite high). Will we end up with social services that promise stability for troubled youth only so long as they toe a certain religious line?

It looks like the Rev. Rapid Cabot Freeman’s fifteen minutes haven’t quite run out yet. The local Norwich Bulletin seems quite intent on following Freeman after his discrimination claims were marred by his being arrested for harassment.

“Rusty Freeman, also known as the Rev. Rapid Cabot Freeman and the “Witch of Baltic,” entered a not guilty plea Wednesday to a second-degree harassment charge in Norwich Superior Court. Freemen, a Wiccan who hosts a public access show, gained attention recently when he accused the town of Sprague of religious discrimination when he was denied use of a public building to hold a witchcraft demonstration on Halloween. Town officials said they rejected the request based on procedural problems. His arrest by Norwich police was based on allegations that he made repeated unwanted calls to a Norwich woman this summer, according to an arrest warrant affidavit in the case. Freeman told police he was trying to contact the woman to attend his divorce proceedings.”

The drama continues in court on December 31st, bring popcorn.

In a final note, Asatru in Iceland celebrated their country’s sovereignty on Monday by honoring the land’s protective spirits.

“Members of AsatrUarfelagid, a religious association which honors the old Norse gods, celebrated Iceland’s Sovereignty Day on Monday by honoring the country’s protective spirits, the landvaettir as described in Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla. According to Heimskringla, the landvaettir thwart a sorcerer disguised as a whale from swimming ashore and thus prevent him from spying on the Icelandic people for the Danish king. During the ceremony, high chieftain of AsatrUarfelagid Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson said these guardian spirits are still protecting the Icelandic country and nation…”

The ceremony took place in five ritually significant points in the country, one of which burned a picture Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde. The story doesn’t say if this was a measure of protection, or one of antagonism against the politician. Considering the recent fiscal woes there, I can’t think it’s a good sign.

That is all I have for now, have a great day!

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

Author and ceremonial magician Donald Michael Kraig sings the praises of Silver Raven Wolf for the Llewellyn Journal.

“I was very impressed with what she was doing. Silver and I wrote to each other several times. It was clear to me that she knew more than most people about Paganism, writing, publishing, and marketing. It was inevitable that I would ask her the following question: “So when are you going to write a book?” She was too busy and had never written anything in such a long format, she replied, but I have to admit that I recognized a writer and knew that just as my question and encouragement was inevitable, there would be an inevitable result.”

Kraig, while heartily endorsing RavenWolf’s new book, also discusses how he met her through the (seemingly) now-defunct Wiccan/Pagan Press Alliance. Perhaps, in the age of blogs, e-zines, and podcasts, a new and revitalized press alliance is needed?

Side-Line Magazine interviews Olaf Parusel, the mastermind behind the classic darkwave band sToa, about his band’s new album “Silmand”, stoic philosophy, and working with famed “faerie” musician Louisa John-Krol.

“Louisa and [I] know each other from the old times on [the] Hyperium-Label. Fortunately [the] Internet has enabled us to stay in contact. When Louisa was on tour in Europe, we have met. We have made music together very intensively in that time. For example, we went to a church of a remote monastery high up on a hill, put up a microphone and performed medieval vocal improvisations. It’s the famous monastery found by Konrad of Wettin. Later on I composed music for a historical documentation on Konrad of Wettin and used Louisas phantastic recordings for it.”

To listen to sound samples, check out sToa’s MySpace page. You can also hear tracks from sToa’s latest album “Silmand” on my A Darker Shade of Pagan podcast.

The editorial pages are tackling the thorny free speech and religious expression problems presented in the Summum case currently before the Supreme Court. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel hopes a solution can be found that “respects this nation’s undeniable Judeo-Christian roots”, while the Austin-American Statesman mulls over the thorny First Amendment problems of letting the Ten Commandments statue remain alone.

“Because the government allowed a memorial to troops who died in the Vietnam War does not mean it also must accept a memorial to those who died opposing it. But a different question arises when the government accepts a religious symbol because the First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a religion. If a monument to the founding tenet of Judaism and Christianity is acceptable in a public space, why are Wiccan pentagles or Summum aphorisms or Mormon angels unacceptable?”

Those two are hardly alone in voicing an opinion. The Concord Monitor says: “Bring it on!” Jewish groups are torn on which side to take according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, while The Week explores editorials that argue if the already existing Ten Commandments monument should be removed. All sides will have a while more to argue, since the justices won’t be handing down a decision on the case until Spring.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that a local Catholic Church had its statue of Mary destroyed. Who are the culprits? Fr. Michael Shershanovich seems to suspect dark occult powers!

“Shershanovich said several black marks had been spray painted on the statue and on the church in the weeks leading up to the desecration, including a pentagram, a five-pointed star synonymous with witchcraft.”

Yes, synonymous with witchcraft, because no other group or organization uses a five-pointed star. In fact, Witches love to roam the night and bash Catholic statues with road signs. That’s just how we roll. Has the secretive, thousands-strong, cult of disturbed teenagers struck again?

In a final note, The Chicago Tribune reports on the precarious fate of religious minorities in Iraq, and how one of them, the Mandaeans, are on the brink of extinction.

“Mandaeans, known as Sabis in Arabic, are just one of several minorities who have historically given Iraq its distinct identity as a cradle of religious diversity. All have suffered disproportionately from the spread of anarchy and extremism in the wake of the U.S. invasion. Iraq’s once-substantial Christian community has seen its numbers dwindle from about 800,000 to 500,000. Yazidis, a lettuce-shunning minority that venerates the forces of good and evil, have been targeted for attacks in their enclaves along the borders of Iraqi Kurdistan. Shabbaks, a Muslim sect that permits alcohol and is neither Sunni nor Shiite, have been persecuted in their ancestral lands near the northern city of Mosul.”

The fruits of a militant monotheism is that all heretics and potential rivals must be eliminated. Once the secular (though evil and tyrannical) government of Saddam Hussein was overthrown and war raged, the old rivalries were able to come to the surface once more. It seems increasingly unlikely that plans to restore the best elements of pre-war secularism will succeed, and many are expecting/fearing Iraq’s future will be as a Islamic Republic in practice, if not necessarily in name.

That is all I have for now, have a great day!

In the recent glut of Halloween/Samhain stories, two, though separated by thousands of miles of geography, stood out as sharing a similar theme. They both involved groups of alleged Pagan troublemakers, who may just be misunderstood instead of wicked. The first takes place in Australia, where a yearly Beltane/Halloween festival* in Victoria has gone private after having trouble with “trolls” the year before.

“…in 28 years there had never been a punch-up at the Mount Franklin Beltane gathering of witches – an event that has drawn up to 700 spell-casting Victorians … last year, a small group known as “the trolls” caused an upset by hanging headless dolls from trees and otherwise carrying on in a dark-hearted fashion. ‘There was a nasty element we’d never seen before, and it ended in a violent altercation, and has essentially ruined what was once a beautiful event,’ a high-profile witch, speaking anonymously, told The Sunday Age. ‘I mean, you’re meant to embrace the darkness in witchcraft, but you’re also meant to keep it in balance with the light. These guys were all about the darkness. It’s not like there were a lot of them but they’ve done a lot of damage.’”

There are so many things wrong, journalistically speaking, with this article. Including the reliance on a “high-profile” anonymous source, and failing to get the “trolls” side of the story. On the whole, it could very well be that some imperious white-lighter Witch “lord” got up the nose of some goth kids and picked the “violent altercation” alluded to anonymously. Sadly, the article doesn’t give us enough information to make a judgment either way. One of the more reasonable assessments of local tensions that the article provides comes from a Satanic store-owner.

“I grew up with witchcraft in the ’70s, when witchcraft and Satanism were one and the same. This was a time when the black arts were truly forbidden. Now it’s all about white light,” he said forlornly. “The practitioners of today almost go out of their way to remove the mystery and darker aspects of their craft.”

So were the “trolls” nasty violent brutes, or simply misunderstood kids raising the hackles of people who had a fixed idea of what their celebration should be? The article doesn’t really answer that question (though congrats to fellow Pagan blogger Caroline Tully on getting interviewed).

Meanwhile, back in America, a group of teenage hoodlums is Washington are giving a local Christian after-school program the vapors.

“Rainier Chapel’s youth group, ELIFE, is struggling to keep its participants. ELIFE leader Tom Warner said the problem lies with a disruptive group of teens who hang out in the park adjacent to the church during ELIFE activities. Warner said parents don’t want to bring their children to ELIFE because of those teens … Some of the teens outside chant Wicca spells, do drugs and drink alcohol, Warner alleges. “I feel like I’ve enabled a drug ring,” Warner said.”

Teen Witch drug addicts! Oh cripes! There is just one problem with Warner’s assertions, the cops haven’t found any evidence of it yet.

“Police Chief Joe Vukich said while his officers will keep an eye out for any illegal activity, his main goal is for his officers to befriend members of the group. If officers talk to them, maybe they can learn why they are loitering outside the church. “I told (my officer) he needs to hang out there and make friends with the kids and the pastor,” Vukich said. If there is indeed drugs or underage drinking, the police will act accordingly, Vukich said … “It’s possible we have a terrible drug problem out there. We do have a substance abuse problem in Rainier, Tenino and Bucoda,” Vukich said. ‘It’s also possible there isn’t a problem. Nevertheless, we’re trying to take a community approach. We don’t really know what the situation is.‘”

Is Warner concerned about drug-abusing Wiccans, or is he concerned with having competition? He is currently dispersing flyers claiming “the cops will be after you” if ELIFE attendees go outside and run around. Sounds more like a turf war, than concern over underage substance abuse. Perhaps these “Wiccan-chanting” teens are simply having some fun at ELIFE’s expense? If so, raising the stakes by calling the cops in will only make it more exciting for them. To bad the journalist didn’t try to interview any of these teens to get their side of the story, and find out what their real motivations are.

In each of these stories it is entirely possible that the antagonists are everything their opponents say they are: dark, drug-abusing, violent, hooligans. But we aren’t provided the resources to make an informed decision in either case presented here. This is a failure of basic journalism. Each article went for a more sensationalist story about outside forces of chaos intervening in something “good” (whether it was a Pagan gathering or a Christian after-school program), instead of giving us a more traditional assessment of each side’s take. Casualties of Halloween-season reportage, or lazy reporting?

* Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, so the seasonal holidays are normally reversed. Hence Beltane instead of Samhain.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m a bit too hard on the “nice-guy” Christians who write books like “Generation Hex” or “Wicca’s Charm”. Aren’t these a step forward from the books that tell outright lies? But what all of these Christian books about modern Paganism do, kind or harsh, is present interest in Witchcraft or Paganism as a behavioral “warning sign”, and an article from a Massachusetts paper shows the consequences of such beliefs.

“Sue Scheff was desperate. Her teenage daughter Ashlyn was out of control: skipping school, delving into witchcraft and running away from home. So Scheff ultimately sent Ashlyn to a residential treatment facility, but Scheff said the place did more harm than good. Her daughter was abused there, Scheff said, and Ashlyn emerged months later seriously depressed.”

The story goes on to paint a picture of a teen put under unbelievable stress. She broke her foot and was unable to compete in gymnastics (a core piece of her identity), the family was thrown out of their house, and they lost most of their possessions. Scheff admits to not being “attentive” to her daughter. Naturally, her daughter started acting out, and hanging out with the “wrong crowd”.

“Meanwhile, Ashlyn began mixing with the wrong crowd, getting involved with witchcraft, skipping school, and becoming increasingly belligerent and withdrawn from her mother. Scheff tried taking her daughter to local therapists; she talked to guidance counselors and doctors; she set up boundaries with Ashlyn, restricting her computer access; and she even sent her to her mother’s house for more than a week, but nothing seemed to help. Her daughter’s behavior only got worse. She began running away from home, and Scheff was afraid of losing her for good.”

Scheff sent her daughter to a “residential program”, where she proceeded to be emotionally abused and physically neglected for six months. An experience that made her found an organization and write a book warning parents of abusive residential programs and “boot camps” (though she still advocates for residential programs, just not the “bad” ones). No doubt Ashlyn’s interest in Witchcraft was burned right out of her by the program.

I’m not going to pass judgment on Scheff’s decision, domestic problems are often hard to judge from the outside, but it is telling that “Witchcraft” is listed as a sign of bad behavior, of defiance and bad judgment. Did her church tell her this? Did she read a Christian propaganda book warning of the “hidden dangers” of Wicca? How many teens are being sent to oppressive boot-camps because they are interested in the “wrong” religion?

As a formerly teenage Pagan (now safely into my thirties), I can tell you that my decision to get involved wasn’t some outward manifestation of me being “troubled”. Nearly twenty years later I can say that with some security, but if my parents had decided my bedroom altar was a “warning sign” I too could have been subjected to an oppressive reeducation. For someone who is truly troubled, clinging to Witchcraft or Paganism might be the only empowering thing in an unmoored life*. So I continue to criticize the Christian books on Wicca and Paganism, because getting involved in a different religion, even one that is strange and exotic-seeming isn’t always a “warning sign” of a troubled mind.

* Which isn’t to say a teen can’t be unhealthily interested in a religion or spiritual practice, but it shouldn’t be treated as an item on a long list of “warning signs” to measure how “troubled” your kid is. A teen can be “troubled” *and* genuinely and healthily interested in non-Christian forms of belief and practice.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m a bit too hard on the “nice-guy” Christians who write books like “Generation Hex” or “Wicca’s Charm”. Aren’t these a step forward from the books that tell outright lies? But what all of these Christian books about modern Paganism do, kind or harsh, is present interest in Witchcraft or Paganism as a behavioral “warning sign”, and an article from a Massachusetts paper shows the consequences of such beliefs.

“Sue Scheff was desperate. Her teenage daughter Ashlyn was out of control: skipping school, delving into witchcraft and running away from home. So Scheff ultimately sent Ashlyn to a residential treatment facility, but Scheff said the place did more harm than good. Her daughter was abused there, Scheff said, and Ashlyn emerged months later seriously depressed.”

The story goes on to paint a picture of a teen put under unbelievable stress. She broke her foot and was unable to compete in gymnastics (a core piece of her identity), the family was thrown out of their house, and they lost most of their possessions. Scheff admits to not being “attentive” to her daughter. Naturally, her daughter started acting out, and hanging out with the “wrong crowd”.

“Meanwhile, Ashlyn began mixing with the wrong crowd, getting involved with witchcraft, skipping school, and becoming increasingly belligerent and withdrawn from her mother. Scheff tried taking her daughter to local therapists; she talked to guidance counselors and doctors; she set up boundaries with Ashlyn, restricting her computer access; and she even sent her to her mother’s house for more than a week, but nothing seemed to help. Her daughter’s behavior only got worse. She began running away from home, and Scheff was afraid of losing her for good.”

Scheff sent her daughter to a “residential program”, where she proceeded to be emotionally abused and physically neglected for six months. An experience that made her found an organization and write a book warning parents of abusive residential programs and “boot camps” (though she still advocates for residential programs, just not the “bad” ones). No doubt Ashlyn’s interest in Witchcraft was burned right out of her by the program.

I’m not going to pass judgment on Scheff’s decision, domestic problems are often hard to judge from the outside, but it is telling that “Witchcraft” is listed as a sign of bad behavior, of defiance and bad judgment. Did her church tell her this? Did she read a Christian propaganda book warning of the “hidden dangers” of Wicca? How many teens are being sent to oppressive boot-camps because they are interested in the “wrong” religion?

As a formerly teenage Pagan (now safely into my thirties), I can tell you that my decision to get involved wasn’t some outward manifestation of me being “troubled”. Nearly twenty years later I can say that with some security, but if my parents had decided my bedroom altar was a “warning sign” I too could have been subjected to an oppressive reeducation. For someone who is truly troubled, clinging to Witchcraft or Paganism might be the only empowering thing in an unmoored life*. So I continue to criticize the Christian books on Wicca and Paganism, because getting involved in a different religion, even one that is strange and exotic-seeming isn’t always a “warning sign” of a troubled mind.

* Which isn’t to say a teen can’t be unhealthily interested in a religion or spiritual practice, but it shouldn’t be treated as an item on a long list of “warning signs” to measure how “troubled” your kid is. A teen can be “troubled” *and* genuinely and healthily interested in non-Christian forms of belief and practice.