“Suspicious Activity,” Animal Skulls, and the Perils of Sensationalism

Last updated on: February 22, 2012 at 1:44 pm By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Yesterday, local news reporters in Chester County, Pennsylvania covered what law enforcement and animal control officials called a “dark and disturbing” scene. The alleged slaughtered corpses of half-a-dozen dogs, surrounded by occult books and paraphernalia. “Two people are in custody after police found more than a half dozen dismembered dogs inside a Chester County house Monday night. SPCA officers carried out bags and boxes of evidence from a home in the 2400 block of Wayne Avenue in the city of Coatesville. Officials say... Read more

PantheaCon: Unity, Diversity, Controversy

Last updated on: February 22, 2012 at 11:43 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

On Monday I returned from the 2012 PantheaCon in San Jose, the largest annual indoor gathering of modern Pagans in North America. This is my third year attending the event, and for me it has become not so much about the panels and presentations, though they are often wonderful, enlightening, and oft-times challenging, but about connecting and reconnecting with the people I write about, network with on social media, or collaborate with in organizations like Cherry Hill Seminary or the... Read more

Guest Post: Circles of Meaning, Labyrinths of Fear

Last updated on: February 20, 2012 at 7:27 am By brendan

[Brendan Myers, Ph.D., is the author of numerous books on mythology, philosophy, ethics, and culture. As far as he’s aware, he is the only openly-pagan philosophy professor in the entire world. Originally from a small town in Ontario, Canada, he now lives in Quebec, where the beer is much better. The following is an excerpt from his forthcoming book, “Circles of Meaning, Labyrinths of Fear”.] Our world is utterly saturated with fear. We fear being attacked by religious extremists, both... Read more

Guest Post: Held in the Light of Stars

Last updated on: February 19, 2012 at 4:17 am By cat

[Pagan since the late ’80s, Cat Chapin-Bishop has also been Quaker since 2001. Cat is the primary author at the Quaker Pagan Reflections blog, as well as the former Chair of Cherry Hill Seminary’s Pastoral Counseling Department, and her writing has appeared in Laura Wildman’s Celebrating the Pagan Soul, The Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies, the Covenant of the Goddess newsletter, and at No Unsacred Place. ] Pagans are the best of spiritual communities; Pagans are the worst... Read more

Guest Post: The Pagan Worldview in a Post-Constantinian World

Last updated on: February 21, 2012 at 8:22 am By Star Foster

[Nicole Youngman is a sociologist at Loyola University in New Orleans. She’s been Pagan over 20 years and is active in a grove of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids. She also does volunteer work with the Master Gardeners of Greater New Orleans.] Listening to fundamentalists talk about the looming threats of “witchcraft” and “paganism” can be a decidedly surreal experience. They use the terms in a variety of ways: sometimes they’re talking about actual Witches and Pagans, sometimes... Read more

Guest Post: Preserving Our History

Last updated on: February 16, 2012 at 5:49 pm By Jason Pitzl-Waters

[Michael Lloyd is an engineer and writer. He is a co-founder and former co-facilitator (2002-2011) of the Between the Worlds Men’s Gathering, an annual spiritual retreat for men who love men. Michael has written for Circle magazine, Outlook magazine, and The Witches Voice, and was the author of Chapter 2 – “The History of Oils” – of Lady Rhea’s Enchanted Formulary (Citadel, 2007). His first book, Bull of Heaven: The Mythic Life of Eddie Buczynski and the Rise of the New York Pagan,... Read more

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

Last updated on: February 15, 2012 at 10:02 pm By Jason Pitzl-Waters

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. Caroline Tully at Necropolis Now conducts a follow-up interview with historian Ronald Hutton, author of “The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft”, and host of an upcoming documentary about Gerald Gardner, about questions raised from his May, 2011, interview at... Read more

A Fertile Lupercalia to You!

Last updated on: February 14, 2012 at 11:24 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Today is the festival of Lupercalia, the ancient Roman observance of fertility and the coming spring. Not to be confused with a certain commercialized martyr’s celebration held yesterday, Lupercalia is a holiday sacred to the god Faunus, and the mythical she-wolf who reared Romulus and Remus the semi-mythical founders of Rome. It was considered an important holiday of religious observance and purification. There are many lurid accounts of what goes on during Lupercalia, some make it seem like an excuse for copulation and frivolity. One... Read more

Lord Athanor 1956 – 2012

Last updated on: February 14, 2012 at 3:21 pm By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Word has come to us that John Monogue, better known to many modern Pagans as Lord Athanor, passed into the Summerlands on February 13th. Athanor co-founded the Unicorn Tradition of Wicca with Lady Galadriel after receiving initiations in a Family Tradition from Lady Rhea. The Unicorn Tradition went on to become a successful and multi-generational tradition that still thrives today, its initiates spreading far beyond its Southern origins, with many serving important roles within organizations like the Covenant of the Goddess... Read more

Fire Claims New Age Shop in New Jersey

Last updated on: February 14, 2012 at 11:02 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

A massive fire broke out yesterday in Long Branch, New Jersey, claiming 10 businesses and 14 apartments. Luckily, no human life was lost in the fire, though some pets were killed. Among the businesses that were destroyed was Sacred Circle New Age Center, a local meeting point for area Pagans, who were deeply saddened by the news. “…we’ll be there for them when they re-build, once we find out more info, if they need anything we can start a fundraiser... Read more