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Christian Tolerance Follow-UpBack on July 9th I covered the targetting of a pagan-owned store in Ohio by anti-choice religious groups. Well the march came and went and it seems the store was left unmolested (except for harrassing, confusing and leading phone-calls).
spreading the "love" of Christ in Ohio
Some claim the threatened protest of the pagan store never happened due to community efforts coordinated by activist group "The Answer Is No" who not only held counter-protests but encouraged local shops to hang large yellow "NO" signs. This apparantly made the loony hate-mongers somewhat frustrated (video footage). Lest one think I'm damning all of Christianity, I'll point out that this group also protested local Churches who didn't measure up to their level of extremism (ie those who aren't calling for a "second American revolution"). Remember, this is how a segment of the population sees us, and we have to remember to say "no" to their lunacy and to remind the "good" Christians that it's their duty to not only disapprove of them in private, but to speak out for the future health and safety of those who don't subscribe to their narrow moralistic views.
More Pagan Music NewsMick Mercer reviews a band called "The Craft" in his journal and pulls no punches. "But here’s the thing, of course! While those in Pagan and (some) Metal circles will be enraptured by the moods created, to most of us it’s so old-fashioned, from a rock perspective, it’s a curiosity, and they’re too young! They should take these songs by the scruff of the neck and shake them until something gives, because in the midst of all this graceful gentrification is a fine band who only need remember they’re not their parents’ age. I realise they’re probably too polite in some ways to do it, but they have to rough it up a bit! Had those songs which have that old guitar sound been done faster, with no room for sluggish behaviour, they would taken flight, and I’d be celebrating them as raven lunatics."
Yuggoth CulturesWanted to point out a new interview on Salon with my favorite modern mage (and comic-book writer) Alan Moore.
Alan Moore" With reference to my interest over the last 10 years in magic, one of the most useful formulas in alchemy, specifically, is "solvae et coagula," where "solvae" is the act of dissolving something, where we take something apart and study how it works -- what in our modern terms would be called analysis. In a scientific framework, it would be called reductionism. The other part of the formula is "coagula," which is synthesis rather than analysis, holism rather than reductionism, the act of putting something back together in a hopefully improved form. Once you take the watch to pieces and see what was making it run slow, you put it back together and hopefully it works better. I'd say that we've had an awful lot of "solvae" in our culture, but far too little "coagula." There are people who seem daunted by the complexity of our culture to the point that they'll shy away from it rather than try to put those thousands of jigsaw pieces together into some sort of useful, coherent picture." - Alan Moore
Olympic FeverThere are a new series of 2004 Olympics ads being shown on the BBC (created by DFGW) featuring Greek Gods competing against Olympic athletes. "Under the strapline 'Legends will be rewritten', an Olympic hero sets out on a journey to the Olympic stadium and en route is put to the test by the Gods on Mount Olympus. Only by successfully completing trials against the mythological immortals Hercules, Hermes and Poseidon can the hero enter the stadium and win the adulation of the crowd."Of course from what I remember from the stories the Greek Gods didn't take defeat too well. I can't wait till we have the Olympics in Israel so we can see an Olympic athelete wrestling the Jewish and Christian God!
More CUUPs and UUPhilocrites clarifies my assesment of the recent comments about struggles within the UU Church over theological diversity. "I don't really see a tug-of-war between Christians and Pagans. (There are probably fewer "Pagan congregations" in the UUA than there are Christian churches, but we're talking about a handful of the one and maybe two dozen of the other.) But there is no end of triangulation in the sibling rivalry of UU theological positions.
The issue that I think all UUs must grapple with — whether they identify their theological orientation as theistic, pantheistic, polytheistic, agnostic, naturalistic, or atheistic — is how our history relates to our present. Even Pagan UUs need to be able to tell a compelling story about how they found a home in the tradition of William Ellery Channing and Hosea Ballou." - PhilocritesI welcome the correction, since in things UU I'm truly on the outside looking in. I wish there were some Pagan UUs who kept Blogs, but so far I have had no luck in finding any to seek commentary from on this issue.
It's a busy day...I just don't have the time to do a proper update today, so instead I'll point you to some great pagan-related writing I have seen. First off, Jacqueline Z. Waters weighs in with a great post about religion and money in The Juggler entitled "tithe". "It suddenly became clear to me what the next step was in my reaching to understand the role of fiscal life in the sacred. Set aside 10% of your income every month to support your church. My church is the earth, my fellow congregation is all of humanity." - Jacqueline Z. Waters Meanwhile, Sage at Goddessing talks about corn, tradition and the upcoming Lammas season. "OK, so Chicomecatl was celebrated in April-May and shows up in a seasonal (July-August) article. Happens all the time. We pagans sometimes want to make the world fit into our constructs, and the world makes that hard on us. Yes, Lammas -- the Celtic holiday we neopagans are preparing to celebrate -- is a celebration of grain, of the first harvest. And so we write about deities of grain now, sometimes forgetting that just pinning them to the Lammas tail of our Wheel of the Year donkey doesn't make them properly associated with a Celtic God (Lugh) and the feast day He instituted for honoring and celebrating His Foster Mother and Queen (Tailtiu)." - Sage @ Goddessing Finally, Chas Clifton returns to blogging to alert us to a new book called "The Inner West: An Introduction to the Hidden Wisdom of the West", a best-of collection from the now defunct Gnosis magazine.
New Moon on MondayThe Revealer covers a religion story in pretty much the fashion I would have, so I'll just point you to it and leave you with a money quote about a Christian who wants every new moon off work. "Nearly 10,000 religions have been identified worldwide. Sociologists estimate new ones spring up at the rate of two per day. The majority of governments in Canada -- federal and provincial -- list upwards of 60 as protected creeds, from Christianity, Judaism and Islam, through Buddhism, native spiritualism, Sikhism and Unitarian-Universalism. Even Neo-Paganism and Wicca are protected in most provinces. Ontario goes so far as to safeguard "non-deistic bodies of faith" provided the "beliefs and practices" they maintain "are sincerely held and/or observed." - The National Post Those Canadians! Neo-Paganism on equal footing with Christianity! A Planet where apes evolved from man! Shocks abound!
The CUUPs Runneth Over?Philocrites brings up an article dealing with the Unitarian Universalist Commision of Appraisal and the dour tidings brought by UU minister Earl Holt. "He'd like the church to stress that "this was a biblically centered faith, and that from that anchor . . . it has sought to be as open as possible" to other forms of inquiry. Failing that, a statement that the UUA simply isn't Christian anymore "might be a cleansing thing to do," he said, acknowledging that few other commissioners share his view that the church should orbit within Christianity's gravity." - Boston GlobeOf course if the UUs ever did "stress" that it was a "a biblically centered faith" what would become of the Pagan Congregations in the UU family? If a push-pull happens between the reviving Christian Unitarians and the growing number of Pagans making their home with the liberal faith would it cause a split? Would it be the seed of a pagan church movement? In the end, I doubt the UUs will assert their Christian roots in a way that would alienate the Pagan, Theists, Buddhist and Polyamorous members. But then again our culture is getting pretty polarized right now, so I suppose anythings possible, even a schism in one of most liberal of faiths.
Pagan Band Profile #3As part of the lead-up to my annual Darker Shade of Pagan radio special (coming in August) I will be profiling some pagan and occult bands that have gotten my attention lately. NEBELHEXE
Andrea "Nebel" Haugen
Band Bio:Nebelhexe is the musical entity of Andrea ‘Nebel’ Haugen. With her albums she has been exploring the spirituality of ancient Northern Europe, bringing to life the forgotten myths and magical wisdom of her Pagan ancestors, focusing particularly on the feminine mysteries of the North and the strong position women held in Pagan cultures. Andrea is working herself with the magic of her foremothers. - Nebelhexe WebsiteReviews:"I really appreciate what Andrea Haugen is trying to do with the Nebelhexe project. I believe that "Laguz – Within the Lake" is a very interesting album, which accepts no limitations by its nature. I am pretty confident, though, that this is the first step towards something much greater by this very talented artist. I will certainly be checking out every Nebelhexe release from now on." - Get Ready To Rock"Music is just one arrow in the bow of this pagan prophetess who is also a renowned writer and artist focusing on the forgotten myths and spirituality of ancient Northern heritage. Nebelhexe literally translates as “fog witch” and this gives you a pretty good idea of the sorcery that her vocals cast upon the listener here. This is an album for the dreamtime state. One that you will find yourself bewitched by and carried off to a world reverting back to a time without the trappings of modern life." - Live 4 Metal"The music on her new album is not entirely different from what she has done with Hagalaz' Runedance but it is, in my opinion at least, more diverse, alive and complex. It doesn't feel as sterile as some of her earlier music did, instead it sounds very organic and feels more true to her own spiritual ideas." - Tartarean DesireFurther Reading:There are Nebelhexe interviews at Walls of Fire, Metal Music Magazine, and Tartarean Desire. MP3sTotems (clip), Laguz (clip), My Visual World (clip)
How They See Us: Troubled Teens, Single Moms and RevolutionariesIn the ongoing saga of modern pagans and the media one meme that keeps popping up is *why* do people choose Wicca or Asatru over the dominant Christian faiths. This leads to quite a bit of talk that makes our faith(s) resemble a caught illness. Witness this profile of troubled orphan Gina Rodriguez in the Dallas Morning News. Going to Mass at Holy Family made too many memories too painful. Gina stopped attending her own church and made it clear that she didn't care to go to anyone else's, either. Wicca, an alternative, nature-based religious practice, interests her lately. Dabbling in "The Craft" is something of a trend among Goth teens, perhaps because nature worship has just one basic rule: "If it harm none, do what you will."Teens you see, turn to Wicca because they are sad or involved in the Goth scene. The equation of broken homes equaling paganism also seems to be a trend lately. In another story a single mother claims she was fired for being a pagan and a single mom. " Gorgizian, who is originally from Fall River, Mass., claims in her complaint that she is a practicing pagan, and that she came to Hampton with her 10-month-old son to start over.She and her son moved into one of the rooms at the resort and shewas hired as a housekeeper April 25. Her employment only lasted two weeks."When the owner, Thomas Saab, came back from Florida, he fired her after finding out she was a single mother and because she had a different religion than he did," said Gorgizian’s lawyer, Philip Pettis.Saab allegedly advised Gorgizian, while he was firing her, to "marry the baby’s father, find faith and that God has a plan for people," said Pettis.So not only is the child without a father but growing up pagan! No wonder she was fired. Finally in a slightly different twist, modern pagans are presented as a part of an American tradition of religious "revolutionaries" dating back to the beginning of the Republic according to a book by religious-studies professor Robert C. Fuller. "In his concluding chapter Fuller moves quickly — sometimes too quickly — through the different forms metaphysical religion takes today. His basic thesis is that those interested in everything from Wicca to vegetarianism to meditation exercises are all part of a well-established tradition of nonchurched "spiritual seekers" that goes back to the early days of the republic. However, the linkages between these different contemporary movements and the revolutionaries profiled earlier in the book are not always that clear."Wicca and the other "seekers" are portrayed as one side in a ever-polarized spilt in religion in America. While the number of "spiritual seekers" continues to grow, so does the membership of some of the nation's more conservative evangelical denominations. The most important phenomenon in contemporary American religion, Fuller notes, is that the two ends of the religious spectrum are moving further and further apart.It seems that reporting on modern paganism may follow a similar trend. Glowing or mocking, sympathetic or hostile with little room for nuance or middle-ground.
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