Oberon Zell and Kenny Klein Cut Ties With Revived American Council of Witches

Last updated on: December 7, 2011 at 11:12 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Back in October I reported on the formation/reformation of the American Council of Witches (aka the Council of American Witches), a body initially founded in 1973 by Carl Llewellyn Weschcke, owner and chairman of Llewellyn Worldwide, shortly after his initiation into the American Celtic tradition of Witchcraft by Lady Sheba. This new council, according to a press release, would update the Thirteen Principles of Belief (aka Principles of Wiccan Belief) for military and prison chaplains, and “engage in an interfaith dialogue to identify and address the legal and social... Read more

Casting Spells on Your Boss Could Get You Fired

Last updated on: December 6, 2011 at 10:02 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

For those faith traditions that incorporate magic and spellwork into their practices, Wicca, Santeria, Vodou, and any number of modern Pagan faiths, the urge to invoke supernatural help to solve a problem is sometimes overwhelming. This is especially true when an individual feels limited in what they can do in their day-to-day lives to remove an obstacle or improve their situation. That said, if you’re careless, casting spells on your boss could get you fired. “Officer Elizabeth Torres, a 24-year... Read more

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

Last updated on: December 5, 2011 at 10:55 am 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. The Atlanta Independent Media Center reports on a 11-year-old child harassed at his school due to his family being Pagan. Christopher Turner of Bowden, Georgia has been singled out, lectured on religion by teachers, and given suspensions for seemingly trivial reasons since knowledge of... Read more

Editorial: Occupying Everything

Last updated on: December 4, 2011 at 1:26 pm By Jason Pitzl-Waters

What I love about having conversations with vibrant, intelligent, people is that you often find yourself verbalizing your beliefs in a distilled and succinct manner that may never have occurred in solitude. In this case, I was having lunch with a retired Lutheran minister, a member of my wife’s family, and our conversation turned to social justice and the Occupy movement. Specifically, we were talking about “Occupy faith” initiatives that have been springing up to support the movement, and what the role of faith... Read more

Quick Notes: Wiccan Murderer Sentenced, Wiccan Teen Attacked, and Lighting Up Stonehenge

Last updated on: December 2, 2011 at 8:27 pm By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Just a few quick news notes for you on this Saturday. Wiccan Murderer Sentenced: The sensationalism-drenched case of Angela Sanford, a Wiccan who killed Joel Levya in what some media described as a ritualistic sacrifice, has finally come to an end. Sanford plead no contest to second-degree murder in August, and was today sentenced to 20 years in prison. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vuISkSRpLY “Angela Sanford was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday for her connection to the death of Joel Leyva back in... Read more

Dear Candidate Gingrich, Are We Still “Surrounded By Paganism”?

Last updated on: December 2, 2011 at 11:09 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

It’s been a crazy year so-far in the race to see who will become the Republican candidate for President of the United States in 2012. It seems like just about every candidate, with a few notable exceptions, is getting their 15 minutes of “frontrunner” status before the seeming inevitability of Mitt Romney reasserts itself again. I’ve covered some of these candidates (and potential candidates) here, particularly when I’ve felt their flirtations with certain pernicious elements of the Religious Right had... Read more

Quick Note: Is Your Cemetery – Witch Free?

Last updated on: December 2, 2011 at 10:56 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

From Media Matters, a bit of levity from our old pal Pat Robertson. So remember kids, cemeteries don’t pose a threat of spiritual attack, unless there are COVENS! I’ve got more coming on the blog later today, so stay tuned… Read more

Pagan Stone Circle Destroyed: Hate Crime or Mere Vandalism?

Last updated on: December 1, 2011 at 10:13 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Yesterday several British papers reported that a stone circle on Trinity Saint David University grounds in South Wales was damaged “beyond repair.” The circle had been used for years by the university’s Pagan Society, who called the destruction “heart-breaking”. The question now: Was it a religiously motivated attack, or simple vandalism? According to the BBC, University officials are not treating this as a hate crime. Cen Powell, executive head of estates and facilities at University of Wales: Trinity Saint David, said:... Read more

Did The Village Voice’s Halloran Piece Cross the Line?

Last updated on: November 29, 2011 at 11:15 pm By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Steven Thrasher at The Village Voice clearly isn’t a fan of Republican New York City Councilman Dan Halloran. Thrasher first did a critical piece on Halloran and his Heathen faith for the Village Voice back in October of 2009 that I dinged him on for inappropriately (in my opinion) sensationalizing the candidate’s beliefs. “All-in-all it’s a well-executed and well-researched story (he even links to my blog), but there is one troubling element, which is Thrasher’s decision to interweave controversies about... Read more

Circling Alone: Paganism’s Solitary Eclectic Future?

Last updated on: November 29, 2011 at 11:16 am By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Perhaps one of most thought-provoking presentations I attended at the American Academy of Religion’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco was that by sociologist Helen A. Berger at the Contemporary Pagan Studies Group panel “Pagan Analysis and Critique of Religion.” Her talk, “Fifteen Years of Continuity and Change within the American Pagan Community,” was a flurry of statistical information gleaned from a 2009 re-visitation of the Pagan Census project. This isn’t the first time Berger, co-author of “Voices from the Pagan Census: A... Read more