A Setback for Sectarian Prayers (to Jesus)

July 30, 2011 By Jason Pitzl-Waters

There’s been quite a bit of discussion this year concerning when sectarian prayers in the United States are permissible in a governmental setting. We’ve had the drama of the “Wiccan-proof” prayer policy in Frederick County, Maryland, and Lancaster, California’s voter-approved sectarian policy, which has withstood one legal challenge so far. Both of these prayer policies are hoping that a stated commitment to broad inclusion will protect them from litigation, but a new ruling in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals seems... Read more

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

July 29, 2011 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. Renowned Haitian Vodou priest and flag-maker Silva Joseph passed away yesterday at the age of 81 (more here). You can view some of his flags, here. Our prayers go out to Silva Joseph, his friends, family, and coreligionists. The 1st Annual Conference on... Read more

What’s the Big Deal with the New Apostolic Reformation?

July 28, 2011 By Jason Pitzl-Waters

The English-language site for the Arabic news outlet Al Jazeera recently featured an editorial by Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor of Random Lengths News, on the neo-Pentecostal Christian network known as the New Apostolic Reformation. In the piece Rosenberg compares NAR with Islamist militia group the Taliban. “Prior to 9/11, the Taliban government in Afghanistan did not register very much on American radar screens, with one notable exception: when it blew up two colossal images of the Buddha in Bamiyan province in early 2001.... Read more

Pagan War Widow’s Truck Vandalized, and other Pagan News of Note

July 27, 2011 By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Top Story: A local Nevada television station is reporting that Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, had her truck vandalized. The Stewart’s were at the heart of a campaign to grant Wiccan soldiers the right to have the pentacle engraved on their military tombstone or marker after ten years of stonewalling by the VA. While the act is attributed to local vandals, the report does explore the possibility that the brick thrown at her truck was connected to anti-Pagan sentiment. But there’s... Read more

Polygamy Decriminalization and Polyamorous Pagans

July 26, 2011 By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Our modern society is both fascinated and repulsed by the practice of polygamy (multiple-partner marriages), particularly the practices of fundamentalist Mormons, who allow polygyny (one husband, many wives), and who have been given both sympathetic (Big Love, Sister Wives) and critical (any number of documentaries and news reports) treatment by mainstream media. While the custom of monogamy has been called “ridiculous” by some, and perhaps even unnatural by others, non-monogamous relationships have been generally been portrayed as either lurid fantasy, inherently abusive,... Read more

Pagan Reactions to the DC40 Prayer War

July 25, 2011 By Jason Pitzl-Waters

“There is no essential difference between sticking pins into a wax image of an enemy and burning candles in front of a wax image of the Virgin. You may think that both these practices are gross superstition, but you can hardly think that one is real and potent and deny reality and potency to the other.” — Dion Fortune, Psychic Self-Defense Yesterday I covered an ambitious spiritual warfare campaign that’s being planned by New Apostolic Reformation leaders. The campaign, “DC40,″... Read more

What Spiritual Warfare Looks Like

July 24, 2011 By Jason Pitzl-Waters

I’ve written at some length about the upcoming prayer rally “The Response” and its problematic organizers and endorsers, and I have also devoted quite a bit of time to the New Apostolic Reformation, a neo-Pentecostal Christian movement that regularly engages in spiritual warfare tactics, displays a disturbing anti-Pagan emphasis, and has intertwined itself with Perry and his prayer event. While I use the terminology “spiritual warfare” quite often, I think that it’s hard to envision what this practice is like among the Christians... Read more

Quick Notes: Bjork’s Biophilia, San Francisco Peaks, and Pagan Podcasts

July 23, 2011 By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Just a few quick notes for you on this Saturday afternoon. Bjork’s Biophilia: Way back in 2007 I covered the very Pagan inclinations of Iceland’s favorite musical export, Björk, as she released her then-new album “Volta.” Now Bjork’s back with an ambitious new interactive album project entitled “Biophilia,” and she talks to The Quietus about politics, the sacredness of nature, and why she’s against the “Christian idea” of how music should be constructed. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8AELvVUFLw “So for me, how I hear music,... Read more

Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

July 22, 2011 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. Early reviews of “The Wicker Tree” from its Fantasia 2011 screening are emerging. Fangoria says it “can’t match the impact of its predecessor.” Twitch opines that it “is going seen as horrific and blasphemous to those who saw the original film as an... Read more

Pagan Charity in Missouri and Australia, plus other Pagan News of Note

July 21, 2011 By Jason Pitzl-Waters

Top Story: Though still small religious minorities throughout the world, contemporary Pagan groups have increasingly involved themselves in charitable campaigns, and created charities of their own. In Kansas City, Missouri Gaia Community, a Pagan Unitarian-Universalist congregation, raised a half-ton of food at the 2011 God Auction, which was donated to Harvesters Community Food Nework. It was estimated that the food raised was enough to provide for 795 meals. “…one of the reasons we schedule this fund raiser in the summer is we know... Read more