Exploiting Guan Yin

July 14, 2010 By Jason Pitzl-Waters Leave a Comment

Planning a trip to China? Want to see mythological sites associated with the Monkey King, Taoist trickster god Nezha, or Guan Yin, Goddess of Mercy? Then you better do your homework ahead of time. It seems the lucrative tourist trade in China has spurred many communities into claiming to be the “hometown” of various legendary and mythological figures in order to profit, and the Chinese government isn’t too happy about this turn of events.

“The Ministry of Culture (MOC) and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) have called time on the controversial, and sometimes vulgar, competition of some local authorities claiming to be the hometowns of mythological and historical heroes, and even sometimes villains. The measure came after a host of news reports highlighting the disputes over the birthplaces of almost every renowned name in the country. According to a circular jointly released by the MOC and the SACH, local tourism and cultural heritage authorities are urged to restrain their appetite for exploiting the fame of well-known figures. What’s more, the commercial development of evildoers, no matter whether they are real, fictional or mythological, will be banned. The circular also criticized some local governments for competing to name their places as the hometowns of an eminent person in an effort to profit from tourism.”

However, the lure of tourist revenue seems to be trumping government admonitions against exploitation, and a total ban on utilizing “evildoers”. Two regions are currently competing to be the “home” of notorious folkloric adulterer Ximen Qing, one complete with an adultery-themed site.

“Both of them have proclaimed themselves the hometown of Ximen and each announced an ambitious investment plan to build sites celebrating his exploits. ”It is improper for local authorities to use real or fictional figures to attract attention,” said Li Xiaocong, a history professor with Peking University.”

Of course, trying to stop towns and communities from laying claim to famous historical and legendary figures is like trying to grasp water. Just examine any tourist route in almost any country, and you’ll see a proliferation of “hometowns” and sites of heroic (or vile) deeds allegedly perpetrated on that very spot. I fear that a government that prides itself on control may find this task of regulating folklore a bit too big to handle.

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Showdown in Stoudtburg Village

September 12, 2009 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 17 Comments

A week ago I put the spotlight on a local Pagan festival being held today in a quaint tourist-trap “village” in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. The local paper got interested in the event because some of the businesses in the village objected to the Pagans renting out the space and planned to close their doors (avoiding the dirty Pagan money).

“A festival designed to celebrate the nature-centered spirituality of pagans and witches is getting a mixed reaction from shop owners at Stoudtburg Village in Adamstown, where the event will be held Sept. 12. While some of the village’s shops will be open during the festival, others will close because of the group that is sponsoring the event — Reading Pagans & Witches.”

Since then, a number of things have transpired. Some local churches are organizing prayer and fasting to spiritually shield the area from our demonic taint, and are planning to encircle the village and pray for an hour.

“We pray a hedge of protection around the area, asking for the blood of Jesus to cover their boundaries, gates and bridges, that they would stand strong against the schemes of the enemy. We declare the enemy will have no foothold in Adamstown, or the larger  Lancaster County area.”

Meanwhile, the Lady Liberty League has issued an action alert urging Pagans to attend and show support for the Reading Pagans & Witches.

“The intended purpose of the Celebrating Earth Spirituality Festival is to bring Pagans of many paths together for education, celebration, and community outreach. However, this Festival is now also becoming a public stand to uphold Pagan rights and religious freedom … take part in some or all of the Festival. Celebrate Paganism and Pagan religious freedom throughout the day. Be part of a peaceful Pagan presence. Be polite. Dress conservatively. Don’t argue with protesters …  spiritually connect with the Festival from wherever you are. Send blessings in advance as well as while it is going on. Send blessings of peace, understanding, protection, and success to the Festival, Festival organizers, and Festival participants.”

Oh, and this story got picked up by the Associated Press, so it has gone national.

“In town Friday, one shop had a wreath and a sign on the door that said “Proud to be an American.” A note on the door says the owner would be in Washington on Saturday “actively supporting my political beliefs. And of course NOT SUPPORTING the activity taking place in the village today.” In Hertzog’s Yard Sale Store, owner Terry Hertzog finished off a cup of ice cream and said he plans to close his store the next day. “We just don’t believe we can support witches and pagans,” Hertzog said.”

You hear that Pagans! No yard-sale store for you! However, not all store owners are planning to close, and one store that was listed as closing down because of the Pagans in an initial article (Stoudtburg Village Coffee Shop) now protests that it isn’t so.

“Don’t put me on this list…. I’m closing due to, I have a House Showing…. My house is for sale!”

All the fun should be underway now, and I hope we’ll be getting reports soon on how everything went. Will it be a big turn-out? Will the Christians keep their promise to be peaceful? We’ll just have to wait and see. One thing is for certain, what was originally going to be a small Pagan gathering at a quaint tourist-village has certainly exploded into something far bigger. I wonder if any of the shop owners realize the irony of the current situation. They close to keep the Pagans away, but only draw more to their village in the process.

UPDATE: I’ve posted a message from Jen Anderson-Wenger, president of Reading Pagans and Witches, concerning the event.

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Avoiding Pagan Dollars

September 5, 2009 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 10 Comments

The shops in a quaint tourist-trap “village” in Adamstown, Pennsylvania are apparantly split over a local Pagan group renting out the place for their Celebrating Earth Spirituality Festival (a local take on the national Pagan Pride Day gatherings), with several refusing to open or closing early to avoid touching Pagan money.

Jane Lesher, who owns The Soxy Lady but doesn’t live in Stoudtburg Village, said her business, which is usually open on Saturdays, will be closed during the festival … As a merchant, Lesher said, she believes the Earth Spirituality Festival is “not the image we want to portray for Stoudtburg Village.” … Lesher said that if the event were held in a “more urban place, it might not have the negative image it would have around here … I am a Christian, and anything that is not worshipping God is something I object to. You can’t force it on another, but you don’t need to support it in any way, either. I base this on what God says. I’m not just a stick-in-the-mud and can’t change my mind, but I base it on what I believe is an absolute.”

I didn’t know you could worship God by selling yarn and notions, makes you wonder if she questions each customer about their faith before ringing them up. Joining Lesher in her retail shunning are Country Pastthymes (a tchotchkes shop) and the Stoudtburg Village Coffee Shop (who is closing after the apparently God-approved morning customers have left). All this ruckus caused the local paper to interview Jen Anderson-Wenger, president of Reading Pagans & Witches, in order to understand who these Pagans are.

“Who are the pagans and witches who will descend upon Adamstown next weekend, and what do they believe? That’s not an easy thing to answer, according to Jen Anderson-Wenger, president of Reading Pagans & Witches. Her group is sponsoring the Celebrating Earth Spirituality Festival at Stoudtburg Village on Sept. 12. The event has divided the village’s shop owners, with several saying they will close because Anderson-Wenger’s group is sponsoring the festival … Pagans and witches are an eclectic group of people with many varying spiritual paths, Anderson-Wenger said. “If it leads to a moral and just life, then it’s the right spiritual path for you,” she said … The group is charitable, holding food drives and adopting a highway and a battered women’s shelter, she said. “There are misconceptions that we have no morals. We raise our children together. We are a family. We’d give the shirt off our back for you or your children,” Anderson-Wenger said.”

They may be moral, charitable, and family-oriented, but belong to the wrong religion and should not be served coffee or allowed to buy a stuffed animal. Now, it is certainly the perogotive of these businesses to close down if they want to, but this protest  just seems somewhat strange. Would they have preferred that the village (a secular organization) had broken the law in refusing a rental to a valid not-for-profit? Do they really think they have never taken a Pagan dollar in the course of being open? How do you think the Pagans heard of, and wanted to rent, the Stoudtburg Village? To operate in a tourist-trap, a place that exists to draw in as many people as possible to spend money, but then get picky about the law-abiding groups that come to enjoy the place seems to be a poor business model. Perhaps all the local Pagans should tell all the people they know that these shops that closed down don’t want non-Christian business, after all, we wouldn’t want to trouble them with the thought of taking money not sanctified by the Lord.

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Quick Note: Making the Marie Laveau Pilgrimage

August 23, 2009 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 2 Comments

Ben Windham of the Tuscaloosa News travels to New Orleans to visit the tomb of Marie Laveau, perhaps the most famous practitioner/“Queen” of Louisiana/New Orleans Voodoo. He quickly discovers that Laveau’s tomb has become a bigger place of pilgrimage and offerings than any of the local Christian churches.

“In the more than 160 years since its construction, her tomb has become a shrine, a magnet more powerful than any in this city’s “legitimate” churches. Even visitation to the St. Roch chapel, with its astounding assortment of crutches, shoes and plaster casts of body parts, is eclipsed by the crowds of faithful or curious who come daily to Courtesy of Mary Angelyn Fisher. Offerings of candles, beads, coins, trinkets, tobacco, toys — almost anything you can imagine — are strewn in front of the tomb. Its sides are covered with crosses or X’s, usually in threes. Some are scrawled in red chalk.”

VooDoo in New Orleans, like Witchcraft in Salem, is a thriving tourist industry, so it is difficult to tell how many sincere adherents there are among the various hucksters and opportunistic hangers-on, but there must be a significant number if even a fraction of Laveau’s many offerings come from active practitioners. Then again, there seems to be a strong thread of belief (some would say superstition) in Laveau’s powers among the many “normal” visitors.

“I know one thing, however. I made sure that all of our offerings were left on Marie Laveau’s tomb and that we left with nothing that wasn’t ours. Years ago, I visited the tomb with a friend, a self-styled tourist guide. As we were leaving, I swiped one of the offerings from the grave — a blank piece of metal, the size of a coin. I figured it would make a good luck piece for Alabama’s football season. I don’t know if there was any direct cause and effect but I suffered for two years after I took that slug. I got cancer. I almost lost my job. And Alabama sports tanked. It has been only this year that I’ve dared to visit the tomb again. And this time, it was with a new — and profound — respect for Marie Laveau, voodoo queen of New Orleans.”

It would be interesting to know all the places of spiritual/religious pilgrimage in our country that step outside the Judeo-Christian norms. The ever-growing popularity of places like Laveau’s tomb seem to speak of a growing post-Christian (and post-secular) atmosphere where an organic process of reenchantment is taking hold. A process that seems to be allowing new and outsider faiths and customs to cement themselves within our cultural outlook.

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