The Wild Hunt 
There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans out there, sometimes more than I can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up.
- Yesterday, herdsmen and women in Germany celebrated their annual cattle drive down the alpine mountains. According to Getty Images this tradition “dates back through centuries, and in countries like Germany, Switzerland and Austria alm culture has a deep resonance in folk history.” If the entire herd survives, the lead cow is decorated with flowers on the return journey. Paganism: Sometimes you get to decorate a cow with flowers.
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The Salem Gazette reports on last Sunday’s re-dedication of Salem, Massachusetts’ famous Witch Trials Memorial, originally dedicated in 1992 (I posted about this previously). Salem Award Foundation chair Meg Twohey said that the memorial “reminds us of the trials and inspires each of us to stand up against injustice in whatever ways we can.”
- At NPR World Cafe profiles Cuban singer Janet Valdes who gives a tour of Havanna, including The Church of Our Lady of Regla, where the singer practices Santeria. Quote: “…she offers a glimpse of Havana’s premier jazz club, La Zorra y El Cuervo, as well as The Church of Our Lady of Regla, where Valdes studies to become a priestess of Santeria — the Cuban religion which combines Catholic influences with those of Yoruba saints or “orishas” from Africa.”
- A new occult-themed television show? Yay! Produced by Michael “Transformers I, II, and III” Bay? Um, yay? I guess? Quote: “The show, which is still in its early stages, centers on an FBI agent who returns to work after an extended absence, stemming from a breakdown he experienced while investigating his wife’s disappearance. Upon his return, he’s placed on a new occult-centric task force with a new partner, who specializes in the subject.” Who knows? Maybe it’ll be good?
- Did temporal lobe epilepsy cause monotheism? That’s the speculation of surgeon Hutan Ashrafian who has been studying the corpses of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun and his family. However, not all scientists are convinced, quote: “Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist at the New York University Langone Medical Center, thinks the theory must remain speculative. ‘The exact timing of Akhenaten’s religious conviction is not so clearly documented, and most cases of sudden religious conversion are not due to epilepsy,’ he says. ‘Monotheism could be related to epilepsy, or bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, or drug intoxication from a fungus – but this paper does not sway me to any of these options.'”
- Exorcism Magazine: For when you got the demon in you (and you’d like to get it back out again)! The best part? According to Father Aleksander Posacki Capitalism is feeding occultism, which feeds exorcisms, which will no doubt help sell more magazines in a capitalistic system! Quote: “It’s indirectly due to changes in the system: capitalism creates more opportunities to do business in the area of occultism. Fortune telling has even been categorised as employment for taxation.” Catholics, folks, you can’t make this stuff up. I can’t wait until we get an English edition!
- MTV is seeking students of the occult for a reality program, what could go wrong? Quote: “The casting call calls for anyone who practices Wicca, Satanism, alchemy, astrology, ESP or other mystical sciences” or those who feel they can “tap into unseen spiritual forces.” Those who are interested in the study of “the Kabbalah or Esoteric Christianity” are also invited to participate; the show is presently seeking males and females ages 17-29 who take their occult practices seriously, regardless of societal views.” For the record, I take a dim view of Pagans doing reality television, but that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
- Sometimes believing in Voodoo gets you out of trouble (well, at least some of the trouble).
- Indeed: “As Canadians, we all expect and deserve the protections afforded by the Charter. Why shouldn’t witches enjoy the same right?” Also: “It is sad that our government remains so spiritually superficial and narrow minded, like many people in our society.” More on this story, here.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcmcEZxdlv4
- The altar of art: “The faithful who came to meditate on a fresco of Giotto’s or a painting by Caravaggio sought a personal experience of the divine, the feeling that they themselves were present, witnessing the mystery being represented, a miracle that was being enacted specially for them. At the MoMA show, the artist’s presence offered transcendence through communion and intimacy, in the privacy that Abramović was able to create in a crowded atrium. Watching the documentary, I thought: This is the moment in which we live. Alienated, unmoored, we seek our salvation, one by one, from the artist who brings us the comforting news: I see you. I weep when you weep. The mystery, and the miracle, is that you exist.”
- This is awesome. So is this.
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.
If you are looking for a nice “occult” link to the Transformers movies – the character “Bumblebee” was voiced by British actor Mark Ryan, who is most known for his role as Nasir in the very pagan British tv show Robin of Sherwood, back in the 80’s. Mark Ryan is also known for designing and creating the “Greenwood Tarot” (out of print) which has recently been re-designed as the “Wildwood Tarot” – which bases its theme in UK folklore and mythology.
That My Little Pony Madonna was just amazing!
I could have sworn I read about the comic book series “O.S.T.” starring Rosario Dawson, being produced. What Bay is making sounds alot like “The Gathering” except with Feds.
“It’s a trap!”
You just made my inner nerd quite happy with that.
Hmm… The Michael Bay shows sounds like a rip off of X-Files and Supernatural.
“I prepared ‘explosive runes’ this morning” would have SPECTACULAR consequences in a Bayverse show..
Re: MTV –
I can finally get my two Occult/Ghost Hunting shows set up! GOSTBROS and PARANORMALITY! Hooray!
I loved Mary Superwoman, and Jedi Mary-
If Michael Bay is involved, I think we can safely assume it’ll be monumentally awful.
“The show, which is still in its early stages, centers on an FBI
agent who returns to work after an extended absence, stemming from a
breakdown he experienced while investigating his wife’s disappearance.
Upon his return, he’s placed on a new occult-centric task force with a
new partner, who specializes in the subject.”
sooooooo…X-Files 2.0?
At least it wouldn’t necessarily be in a directorial role.
The Virgin Mary Power Rangers look like a formation of Tom Servos.
Regarding MTV’s proposed Reality show on young Witches, Pagans, and Occultists: I have encountered a few audition-calls for such shows, which I posted about on the Juggler (one was announced thru Witchvox); I feel there is definitely something going on in the TV producing zeitgeist that wants to be presenting Witchcraft/Paganism/Occultism on television (we see this already in fiction shows).
Stray thought- if there is anyplace in America where Magicke practices are kept especially underground- I suspect it is in the entertainment fields.
Many Young Magick-Practioners may find the prospect of appearing on an MTV show appealing; it may well prove a historic breakthrough, as surely (sooner or later) For-Real Magick Life hits the airways (it already kind of has, in a few Reality shows already, one of which featured the infamous “God Warrior” located on YouTube).
One thing to consider, responding to a TV casting call- your life will never be the same, your anonymity gone forever- once you have been on a Magick-Reality TV show.
If you are on such a show- they can’t run embarrassing footage of you (or the Occult Sciences) if you don’t provide them with any. Let producers ply the cast with alcohol and stir up Witch Wars all they want- if you never present yourself or The Life on-camera with nothing but integrity and honor- what are they going to have to run with?
A thing to remember about the audition process- it is as much a chance for the actor to check out the production, as it is for the production to check out the actor. It is totally appropriate to ask questions like, Why are you interested in a show about Magick-Life? How do you intend to present Witchcraft, Paganism and the Occult on this show? Are any of you producers involved in the Magick Life?
It is perfectly fine to respond to a casting notice, and decide not to do the show. You are under no obligation whatsoever, at no point in the audition process, to actually do the show- until you sign your name to a contract. (At that point, you might as well start to consider yourself a vassal-serf to MTV, and oh yeah, your life will never be the same).
But it is fine to go thru the audition process (if they are serious, they will want to put you on film pretty quickly, to see how you “read” on camera): you are not obligated until you sign a contract.
If a group of Young People (Younglings) could represent Neo-Paganism and the Occult Crafts and Sciences on television with dignity and honor, for themselves, the Gods, and the Community- rock on, Pagans, rock on.
You think that, perhaps, they are after younger ‘Magical’ types because the older ones are less prone to fuck-uppery?
Acting with integrity and honour is not going to generate huge viewing figures, is it? Not compared to ritual virgin(ity) sacrifices and Bacchanalian revelry.
Well, MTV’s demo-audience is young people; of course they’re going to look for 20-somethings or teens.
I would imagine (hope) that Occult Youngsters contemplating such a casting-call would want to Rep the Life with dignity, rather than run ratings. Sure, let the producers encourage all they want (ratings! ratings! ratings!) If you don’t offer up your virginity as a metaphoric Sacrifice in a Dionysian Revel- they don’t have footage of that.
It is ultimately the actor in front of the camera who controls the performance; no one else generates the performance but the actor.
Speaking as a competition reality fan, I’d much rather see a contestant who just happens to be Pagan on a show that’s not about their Paganism (e.g. Survivor, Amazing Race, Top Chef, Project Runway, etc.) than see a Pagan on a show all about the boospookiness of Paganism. With the caveat, of course, that the Pagan contestant is actually good– Amazing Race had a goth couple on and they were successful and liked enough to have them back in the celebrity edition. That way, at least, both the editors and the audience aren’t expecting them to be all about their religion all the time (indeed, we usually hate it when something like a contestant’s religion becomes too focal– there’s a certain Survivor season that will live in infamy as That Annoying Jesus Season for a large contingent of the fanbase).
I wonder what “roll ’em, roll ’em roll ’em” sounds like in Swiss-German.
Zan, your perspective is appreciated on this subject!
I only have one thing to add. When you are working for others, they can sometimes maneuver you into situations where you are somehow shocked, pushed, and manipulated. Be prepared for it. Maybe even roleplay with your friends and see how you would react if you’re not expecting something that you might perceive as threatening.
And even if you are well-prepared, you’re not perfect; nobody is. So realize that you might lose it, sometimes, and that might get filmed. In a world where so many of our actions can be publicized, we must learn to act as well as we can in all circumstances.