Greetings from San Francisco! I’ve arrived safe and sound in the Bay Area, and have received warm hospitality from my lovely hosts. While you’re reading this I’ll be immersed in the proceedings of the American Academy of Religion’s Annual Meeting, but yesterday I had some unstructured time, so I thought I’d spend it by visiting the legendary Fields Book Store, a vital outlet for metaphysical and esoteric material since 1932. Braving the BART and buses, and with the help of... Read more
Welcome to The Wild Hunt’s semi-regular round-up of news and opinion, unleash the hounds. As you read this I’ll be on my way to San Francisco, California to attend the American Academy of Religion’s Annual Meeting. The AAR is the world’s largest association of academics who research or teach topics related to religion, and their annual meeting has become a vital place to hear about the latest scholarship in the field of Pagan Studies (and just about every other religious and philosophical tradition as well).... Read more
Well-respected esoteric publishers Scarlet Imprint, producers of high quality limited-edition volumes on such topics as the cult of Pomba Gira, Palo Mayombe, and magical grimoires, has announced that they are going to start releasing their titles as ebooks. “The e-book hopefully means more people will read books. That can only be a good thing. It also means that we can create affordable versions of our work so that readers can take the risk on new authors and unfamiliar subjects. You can dare... Read more
[This is part two of a two-part story by Cara Schulz from PNC-Minnesota. Part one, dealing with Pagans in basic training at Lackland Air Force base can be found, here.] One of the Gateways to the Air Force for future officers is the United States Air Force academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While earning their bachelor’s degree, military cadets participate in a rigorous athletic program and are instructed in how to lead others as an officer in the Air Force. In part... Read more
This Friday the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, will be heading to Benin for a three-day visit where he is expected to unveil an “important document” relating to the Catholic Church’s role in Africa. What makes this visit distinctive is that Benin is thought to be the birthplace of Vodun (aka Vodou/Voodoo), and it is the third largest religion in that country (after Christianity and Islam). Indeed, the pontiff’s visit will feature a “a speech to non-Christian leaders” which... Read more
Just a couple quick notes for the Heathen-minded today. If you aren’t already reading Dr. Karl E. H. Seigfried’s amazing The Norse Mythology Blog, then you’ve been remiss. I first mentioned the blog back in June for its in-depth interview with Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, chief priest of Iceland’s Ásatrúarfélagið. The blog is one of the most content-rich affairs for lovers of Norse mythology I’ve ever seen, and two recent features, his answers on Norse myth and religion questions posed by a high school student,... Read more
A somewhat lazy Sunday today, exacerbated by the fact that I have a lingering upper respiratory infection. So I thought I’d do a quick round-up and check in with my colleagues at the Patheos Pagan Portal and the Pagan Newswire Collective. To start off, Gus diZerega’s latest column for Patheos expands on the distinctions between “cultural” and “religious” Paganism, using Lithuanian Romuva as an example. Quote: “For my present purposes, what is most important is that for many Lithuanians cultural and political values were the major... Read more
Just a few quick news notes for you on this Saturday. Hinduism in Africa: The Times of India reports on the rapid growth of Hinduism in Ghana and neighboring Togo, exploding from just small group in the 1970s to between 2000 and 3000 families today. How did Hinduism grow in Ghana, which is 70% Christian? Through example. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYQKkH9KM3w “We have not achieved this through the winning of souls as other religions do, but have attracted people into the practice of... Read more
[This is part one of a two-part story by Cara Schulz from PNC-Minnesota. With today being Veterans Day in the United States, I’m proud to run this important look into the experiences of Pagans in the Air Force.] When potential Military Members join the United States Air Force they usually enter through one of two Gateways To The Air Force. Future officers attend college at Colorado Springs Air Force Academy and enlisted trainees go through Basic Military Training (BMT) at... Read more
It was election night this past Tuesday, and while the media has largely focused on hot-button political issues like fetal “personhood” or collective bargaining rights, our faith communities took a quiet political step forward in Virginia. There, local Unitarian-Universalist and Pagan Lonnie Murray won a seat on the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District (TJSWCD), a body that provides natural resource assistance for Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa and Nelson Counties, as well as the city of Charlottesville. Murray now joins the ranks of Dan Halloran... Read more
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