Thoughts For the Season

I took this image more than a week ago and I think it's got some brilliant red colors to enjoy and mark the important, but often forgotten, point of the whole season of holidays: the return of the sun after the longest night of the year. Unfortunately, my monitor crapped out on me and I've had to temporarily replace it with an ancient Compaq monitor that only has 32 bit color. So, I'm not quite sure if this photo is very red or not. Either way I seem to remember liking this image, so I hope you do too!

I read on The Wild Hunt how some 300 people came to Stonehenge to celebrate the Solstice on the wrong day and I just couldn't believe it. Or, rather, I was incredibly dismayed by it. I know I'm a hardass about celebrating the solstices, equinoxes and cross quarters at the right time (I don't celebrate Samhain on Halloween, for example, but on the actual cross quarter which usually occurs a full week after Halloween) but come on folks! You call yourselves pagans? And you didn't even realize that our holydays are based on astronomical events and thus don't always occur on the same calendar date? You know so little about what it means to be pagan that it never once occurred to you to check the date? I wish I could meet those folks and slap them silly! I guess I wouldn't have to slap them silly since they are already! Okay, stepping off soapbox now.

I stayed up all night on Yule and kept the fireplaces and candles burning all night. I like the idea of making it a tradition; it's a beautiful way to not only recognize the solstice but show respect for the sun. I've read before how keeping candles/lights burning all during the Yule night will help draw the sun back or otherwise help the sun find its way back. I don't think the sun needs our help but I like the idea showing my support. There's also that little fact of it being seriously cold to encourage one to keep fires going!

Here's hoping you and yours stay warm and happy during this season and all the years to come!

More Internet Memories

If it wasn't for the internet I don't know if I'd be a pagan witch. To be clear, my first encounter with neopaganism was a Scott Cunningham book (yes, that one) that my cousin handed me after she discarded it. She knew I was always reading about mythology and religions and whatnot and thought I would enjoy it. And boy did I?! But if it hadn't been for the internet I don't know if I would have stuck with it. Back in the early days of my pagan path walking I was fortunate enough to have internet access and it opened up the wider world of what it could mean to be pagan. In the early years of this millennium I used to say that the internet was a boon to two areas of interest: pornography and neopaganism. I don't know if that's really true, I suspect it isn't, but it seemed that way to me. I guess that says a lot about me, doesn't it? I was a country girl bored with what I knew and thirsting for something that I could not yet name. And when I discovered witchcraft, mythology taken seriously as including life lessons, ritual and all the rest I finally had a name for it.

However, many people had a name for their beliefs long before I came along and long before the internet was even a dream in a nerds mind. And some of them really hated us newbies. Granted, there was a lot of fad fever going on, there was a lot of white lighting and dumb kids calling themselves priestesses and putting "lady" in front of their name a week after their learned the definition of Wicca. There was a lot of bullshitting going on to be sure. But there was a lot of honest, sincere searching and learning taking place too. Those of us who were new and naturally ignorant and inexperienced were not often greatly encouraged by the older, more learned. In fact, just because we were new we were sometimes automatically lumped in with the "fluffy bunnies" and disregarded simply because of our youth or lack of knowledge. This of course happens to everyone at some point but it was particularly prevalent in the suddenly exploding online pagan community.

Fluffy bunnies were a strange breed and I may have been included in their ranks at one point by some. In my opinion they tended to be very new and yet felt instantly entitled to the utmost respect. They knew very little of mythology or folklore or ritual or herbs or any of it and yet considered themselves high priests and priestesses even though they had never even attended a group ritual, much less organized or led one. They tended to wear huge pentacles on their person just hoping someone would start some shit with them so they could claim persecution. They reminded me of the peasant Dennis in Monty Python's Holy Grail: "Come see the violence inherent in the system! You saw him repressing me, didn't you?" It was comical and silly but it was also somewhat damaging. So many of the bunnies repeatedly regurgitated the "9 million witches killed during the Burning Times! Never again!" mantra that it lost its meaning and created a victim complex, making it nearly impossible for other pagans or anyone in the mainstream to take them seriously. And the bunnies never even bothered to research such an outrageous figure, never realizing or caring that such a number would have wiped out most of Europe. So, I guess they earned some of their enmity. But some of us felt a sting we didn't earn.

From my perspective it seemed like some of the older pagans truly hated the newbies. Looking back, I'm not ever sure if all of the anti-fluffy bunnies were Wiccan or other species of pagan. All I knew in the beginning was Wicca and I thought that's what everyone was: I guess that made me a fluffy bunny. There was so much information out there and 99% of it was Wicca 101. There were so many cheesy pagan websites it was dizzying sifting through them all. And the greater majority of them were saying the same things: correspondences and generic, uninspired spells and rehashed information. The way I remember it most of the pagan sites I came across from about 2001-2003 were utter drivel. They all included the same things: a calender of the eight sabbats, a usually vitriolic disclaimer that Wicca wasn't devil worship, a brief explanation of the common Wiccan rituals tools and that was pretty much it. There was very little personal reflection or interpretation and even less research and scholarship. You know what there was a lot of? Graphics! Shining, spinning, sparkling, color changing, blinking pentacles, triple goddess and horned god symbols on every page of nearly every site.
It was cute for about thirty seconds and then quickly became nauseating.

And here's a little sordid secret: I had one of those crappy websites too! It had some basic information but it mostly consisted of essays I had written for an online Wiccan college (I'm a second degree in a online school, yay!) that was, I believe, called Crystal Waterfall of all things. And while I was a better writer than some I realize now that what I really needed was a blog. My opinion-full essays didn't really belong on a sparkly deep blue website: they belonged in a personal journal. And while I'm not Wiccan anymore by any means I still look back with some fondness on those heady times of techno-paganism and watching the Witchvox membership grow by leaps and bounds.

American Hate Groups

The Southern Poverty Law Center has released the results of their study of hate groups across the United States; they report that there are 926 active groups. To see how many of these groups are active in your neighborhood visit their Hate Groups Map. The map, and the overall results, paints a pretty depressing, if fascinating, picture. The hot topic of immigration has been an obvious boon to American hate groups as they have seen a 54% jump since 2000. And given that President Obama is our first African-American president I'm not surprised that American hate groups have seen a 4% increase since 2007.

I'm also not surprised to learn that my home state of Missouri has at least 30 known hate groups. And I guess I always knew in the back of my mind that there were surely some racist organizations around my own area of southwest Missouri. This is the Ozarks after all, land of hillbillies and rednecks. But I was somewhat surprised, not to mention dismayed, to learn that there so many so close to me. There's something like 5 or 6 within an hour of my home!

I don't know quite how to feel about the Christian Identity brand of hate group and its connections to Norse neopagans. According to the SPLCenter:

In recent years, deep doctrinal disputes, the lack of a central church structure, and a shift among white supremacists towards agnosticism and racist variations of neo-Paganism have weakened the Identity movement and reduced the number of its adherents.

I've always been aware that a very small subset of Neopagans was of the racist variety but to see it discussed in such a matter of fact manner is chilling, to say the least. As far back as 1998 the SPLC has been discussing the racist varieties of Asatru and Odinism but did at least concede that:

Some 40 Websites are devoted to forms of Asatrú (most of them nonracist).

A later 2001 interview with a Swedish expert goes farther. A professor from Stockholm, Mattias Gardell, states that there are three distinct types of Norse neopagans:

There are really three positions: the militant racists, the nonracists and, in between, a third, "ethnic" position.

While I'm not of the Nordic persuasion I think Gardell did a pretty fair job of making it plain that just because one is a Norse neopagan does not necessarily mean one is a racist. He does, however, tend to lump all neopagans into one group. Or, rather, he simply leaves out the non-Norse neopagans. But as he is discussing racism within neopaganism he can perhaps be forgiven for that.

There's also another map worth visiting at the SPLC site. It's the the interactive Stand Strong Against Hate map which allows visitors to add their name and home state information in a show of tolerance. It might not really accomplish much but it is nice to see so many positive green spots on the map as opposed to the red hate group dots. Said page also has a list of recently reported hate crimes which is, again, depressing as hell but important nonetheless.

As I said on Inauguration day:

I don't know if today is the fulfillment of King's dream or just the beginning of the fulfillment of his dream.

We have an African-American president; we have made great strides. But racism, religious hatred and all that goes with it are still very much alive in this country. The above links speak to that. We haven't achieved all of our progressive goals simply because Obama won the election. We've turned a corner, yes, but we still have a long way to go now that the haters of this country are redoubling their efforts.

Growing Pains

So if your read many pagan blogs you're likely familiar with Deo's Shadow, a popular pagan podcast, and the fact that it's two creators have switched to atheism. There are so many posts about this that it would take forever to link them. Just check out The Wild Hunt to find a few and that will get you on your way if you haven't already read about it. Apparently, this change in two apparently well-known pagans (that I've never heard of btw) has caused a little uproar. There's talk of folks outgrowing paganism and of paganism having no coherent community. Some have explained/complained that all the magic and worship and general weirdness of paganism is pointless. Some have said they couldn't get a scientific grasp on paganism and so left it behind them. And on and on and on. And some formerly die hard pagans have, for some reason, been hit pretty hard by this. They're feeling the need to re-examine their beliefs, or something like that. Personally, I don't get the big deal. So some folks who were pagan aren't anymore? Who cares? We are all walking a comparatively new path and there are bound to be dabblers who drift in for a while, some for shallow reasons, some with all sincerity, and eventually drift out. Why does this cause people to doubt themselves and their pagan path?

It makes me wonder how many of us have studied the early years of Christianity. If you haven't given that fascinating period in history a look lately, or ever, let me just tell you: it was a mess. People didn't understand what was going on because no one knew what they were doing. It was all new to them and they were creating a religion from the ground up. They started form scratch. They had less to work with than neopagans as we have a rich history of ancient paganism to study. The rituals of mass and all that didn't spring up out of the ground; they took years to become entrenched. The organization and power of the Christians didn't rise up from out of nowhere. People drifted into Christianity because it was different, because it was new or because it spoke to them. And not all of them stuck with it. And lookee at what those early Christians created: a religion that has dominated for 2000 years! I'm not saying neopaganism will do the same but what I am saying is that we've just got to expect these kinds of things. Just because these events are new to neopaganism doesn't mean they are new in the larger sense. Of course we don't have much coherence. Of course we don't have much of an established community. How could we? There are only a few of us and many of us are very far flung.

I imagine in big cities and in places like California there are a lot of pagan-y, magical people to form a community so maybe they have a different perspective. But, lest we forget, the greater part of this country is not very densely populated. Yes, I'm talking about the Midwest and the Bible Belt. I'm smack in the middle of it and I can tell you there are very few pagans around here. In my entire county there are maybe 6 pagans that I know of and probably not many more than that in the closet. We can't form much of a coherent community because, well, it's hard to galvanize a movement consisting of only 2 or 3 involved people. This is just a microcosmic example but do you see what I'm getting at? There just aren't enough of us yet to be called a movement in the true sense of the word. And I imagine that neopagans in other countries face the same lack of numbers issue that Americans face. We haven't been around long enough; there just aren't that many of us. Compared to the age of religions throughout history ours is still very young. Neopaganism is a child; we've got to expect some growing pains.

Syncretism, Or, The Fight Not Worth Fighting

There seems to be some talk about religious syncretism around the pagan blogosphere lately. And I've found it worthwhile to jump into the greater discussion. Now, I debated in high school, so I like to define key terms before I start shooting off my mouth. According to Wikipedia

Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions. This can occur for many reasons, and the latter scenario happens quite commonly in areas where multiple religious traditions exist in proximity and function actively in the culture, or when a culture is conquered, and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in entirely eradicating the old beliefs or, especially, practices.

Jenavira over at Essais has recently reviewed a book which includes the subject of religious syncretism. According to her review the author misses the mark.

But he never gets syncretism, never seems to be able to move beyond “but that's not how Christianity works” and “but that can't really be real,” even though he obviously really, really wants to.

On the flip side, Celestite from A Pagan Tapestry takes a pretty strong stance against the syncretism of Wicca and Christianity.

How can you possibly be honest in your beliefs and say that you believe in both?
I know it is hard for some people, but you cannot walk these two spiritual paths at the same time.

Okay, cue the shooting off of the mouth. On the one hand, I can almost understand the frustration of seeing someone supposedly "pervert" one's personal religion but I have to throw my lot in with the pro-syncretism side. For one thing, no religion is entirely "pure". There is no such thing as a religion that is not, at least in some part, influenced by others. And we all know that when a religion is influenced by another various things, traditions, ideas, etc., get "borrowed". Even if the influential aspects died out hundreds, or thousands, of years ago and their meanings have been largely forgotten they're still there.

While I'm not a Christian or a Wiccan I can empathize with the desire to mix the two. After all, many of the Christian holidays are pagan in origin and those same pagan holidays make up the eight festivals of modern Wicca. I can clearly envision a Wiccan celebrating Christmas. Hell, for a few years I considered myself Wiccan and did just that. Trying to convince others to keep the two completely seperate seems a little, well, desperate to me. It stinks of some deep and unresolved issues with Christianity that one might be trying to distance oneself from. (Not that I'm a psychoanalyst or anything, this is just the coinage of my brain, to mutilate Shakespeare.) And just to be clear let's not forget that Wicca itself is a syncretic religion which draws on Celtic traditions as well as Rosicrucian, O.T.O. and other paths. Wicca itself is a perfect example of religious syncretism.

Now let's forget about Wicca and Christianity for a moment and consider other syncretic religions. How 'bout Voodou? Yes, it's a religion, not just a practice for those three of you who don't already know that. And it's a beautiful mix of African, Roman Catholic and American Indian traditions. What about the blending of the ancient Greco-Roman pantheons? What about the deities borrowed from Roman provinces that became established figures in the Roman pantheon? Can you say Cybele? What about Jewitchery, Rastafari, etc., etc.? The list goes on and on ad infinitum.

My point is that railing against religious syncretism is pointless; it's like trying to break a dam with a toothpick. Its rich history goes back to the dawn of spirituality. In fact, syncretism makes up the larger part of religious studies. You can't have religion without some form of syncretism; that's what some people just don't seem to grasp. That's why I made this rant, er, post; I'm here to help.

How Pagans Look at the World

I happen to really like this collage even though, especially on the larger version, there are visible glue bumps in the magazine clippings.

Solstice Blessings!

I hope you and yours have a fine summer solstice.

P.S. If anyone knows the artist of the above picture please let me know.

Isms and Schisms

I have recently come to the realization, as is obvious from my updated profile, that I am a hard polytheist and have been for some time. Now we all know that poly = many and theo = god. But there's more to it than that; there are hard and soft polytheists. Soft polytheists are of the opinion that all gods are either manifestations of each other or that all gods are different aspects of the same single god. Hard polytheists, like me, view the gods as unique, separate individuals. When I first began studying and reflecting upon the gods back in my teens I was only interested in the myths as fascinating stories with perhaps some wisdom to impart (and this is how I feel about the Holy Bible of the Abrahamic folks). When I moved further into neopaganism and Wicca I was a soft polytheist, feeling that all gods were one and all religions were one and we are all one and all is one and all that happy horseshit. Now, don't get me wrong. If you are a soft polytheist and it works for you and your magic then that's great. But I see all of that "all are one" stuff that I was bombarded with in my early studies as trite oversimplification that limited my perception and worship of the gods. For me, it was happy horseshit because it was easy; it was simple because if all gods are one then there's no need to study, meditate or worship as much. I've since moved on from those early days and now, more than 11 years after I first dedicated myself to the Lord and Lady of Wicca I've come to the opposite extreme. Now that I've got a few years of study and practice under my belt I see that my past soft polytheism was really a hangover from my knowledge and experience of monotheism. I think soft polytheism made the transition from Christianity to neopaganism easier: one god, to one goddess, to a goddess and a god and now to many distinct deities. I no longer call myself Wiccan, and haven't for years and no longer see all goddesses as aspects of one superior goddess nor do I see all gods as different aspects of the Horned God. And I'm actually pretty glad about that fact. I feel that I've grown and am no longer in need of what's easy and simple. I see all gods as unique and distinct beings who are each worthy of study, reflection and worship. Hard polytheism isn't easy for me like soft polytheism was; I have to work harder, study more and think more. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Dark Maiden

I'm working my way through Ariadne's Thread by the late, great Shekinah Mountainwater. In the third chapter, or cycle as she calls it, the Maiden is discussed. There are actually two Maidens, Bright and Dark. The Bright Maiden is the Amazon who, all too often in our patriarchal society, takes on masculine qualities and is the strong, outgoing brightly shining Maiden. The Dark Maiden is the introspective, intuitive, mystical Maiden of the fall, the waning crescent and the menopausal time of life. And even though I'm too young to be menopausal I find I greatly identify with the Dark Maiden. She is deeply sensitive, artistic, receptive, magical and contemplative. She is the enchantress, She Who Pulls with the movement of water and She Who Surrenders to the moon. She is Persephone, Morgan La Fey, The Sorceress, Lady of the Lake and the mermaid. The Dark Maiden is apparently an idea put forth by Shekinah and no one else as the only other references or art pertaining to her that I could find were role playing games and fantasy books. Some people look down on the maiden, bright or dark, as being childish, or wimpy or otherwise inferior. But the Maiden is just as important as the Mother and Crone, she cannot be left out of the equation. She is the growth of new life and new ideas and the energy of spring and creativity. I look forward to meditating on the Dark Maiden and learning more about myself.
P.S. I just read on
Space.com that: Interestingly, a first quarter moon is actually slightly brighter than a last quarter moon, because at first quarter the illuminated half of the moon displays less of the dark surface features known as the "maria" (pronounced măr-rēa) popularly referred to as lunar "seas."

Hecate Night

Tonight is Hecate Night in honor of the Great Goddess Hecate. Although She has other sacred days within various cultures, the Romans especially honored Her on the 29th of each month, this is the day I and others mark as specially meant for Her. Although considered by many to be a Greek goddess She actually originated from Asia Minor, Anatolia to be exact. She later became somewhat incorporated into, but independent of, the Greco-Roman pantheons. She is a goddess of many guises including a mother goddess, sorceress, Queen of the Underworld and Queen of the Night. Though She is considered a crone goddess by most neopagans today She is herself a Triple Goddess and thus a Great Goddess. According to one myth She shares the moon duties with Artemis and Selene, as maiden and mother respectively, and is represented by the dark of the moon. But as the moon itself produces no light of its own it is in fact always dark. As such, Hecate is the moon goddess of all phases and stages as well as goddess of sky, Earth and Underworld. Without Her we would quite possibly have no seasons as, out of all the gods, only She heard the pitiful cries of Persephone and took steps to ensure Her part-time freedom from the land of the dead. Her sacred symbols are the key, as a guardian goddess of the Underworld; the scourge, as a herder and sometimes beater of souls; and the dagger, symbol of Her ritual power as well as Her ability to take life, especially that of babies who would otherwise suffer worse fates. Dogs are also sacred to Her as they are able to sniff out good souls from evil souls and as such Cerberus is especially Her friend. Crossroads, as metaphors for the past, future and present, are sacred to Her and offerings to Her are to be left in these magical places. In the past victims of violent or otherwise questionable deaths were often buried at crossroads so as to encourage Hecate to quickly take the deceased away to the Underworld.

The more modern understanding of Hecate is that of patroness of witches and mighty crone goddess. She is a wise, stern and sometimes cruel goddess who does not suffer fools gladly and will gladly kick you in the face if you deserve it. She does not coddle or baby Her followers but rather She challenges us to challenge ourselves, to incorporate the darkness within us into our larger souls and thus become whole. She is not to be trifled with, She cannot be fooled and She reigns over the unconscious land of dreams and that of the Underworld. She is a Great Goddess, some would say, The Great Goddess. All hail Hecate!
For a more exhaustive history of Hecate visit Wikipedia. Original art by Luis Royo.

The "War" on Christmas

We are well into November so it's that time again. Yes, the War on Christmas is warming up. Instead of assuming that everyone celebrating a holy day this time of year is a Christian many people prefer to be inclusive about it and say "Happy Holidays". And this is such an evil thing, it is such a blatant attack against Christmas that boycotts are being encouraged, books are being written, rants are being shouted and people are getting pissed. Myself included. This is such bullshit. I am tired, tired, TIRED of this "I'm a poor persecuted Christian, I can't dictate how my government works and I can't force others to believe as I do, woe is me" argument. You know what? The "I'm so persecuted" religious line is an old one and it's an obvious call for a pity party. It's an attempt to paint yourself as the underdog; it's a self-serving bullshit story.

You feel put upon because not everyone says "Merry Christmas"? What's the big deal? Not everyone worships your savior and that's gonna...what?....hurt your personal faith? Offend Jesus? I'm pretty sure Jesus is a big boy and can handle it. But if you're still worried about Him I've got a solution, why don't you celebrate the birth of Jesus a little closer to the actual date? It's in the spring, dumbass, and any regular viewer of The History Channel can tell you that. Furthermore, give the pagans back our holiday. Ya know why the birth of your Christ is celebrated on December 25? Because that's just right next to the ancient date of the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. Ya know what else? It's right next to the winter solstice, which falls on the 22nd this year and which has been celebrated by cultures the world round since time was time. Modern neopagans, like myself, would like these warmongering, self-righteous ignoramuses to know these facts. In fact, while I'm at it, give us back the rest of the holidays you stole from us. Easter was named for the goddess Eostre, a Celtic pagan deity who was offered a special egg by a hare who was granted immortality. Imbolc got turned into Groundhog Day. Beltaine became May Day. I could go on. Of course, I'm oversimplifying, but the point still stands. The Puritans were right, Christmas is too pagan. And there's a reason for that. It was stolen from the old pagans. Give it back and celebrate Jesus' birth near the actual date. Then you won't have people offending you with their "Happy Holidays" cheer. But then, you wouldn't be able to piss and moan about the War on Christmas. Oh dear, what else would you have to whine about? Perhaps the senseless deaths occurring every day in Iraq, ya know, the real war?

Now that would be a real holiday gift.

Inexperience with Human Death

Since it's the Samhain season, a time to remember and honor the dead, there's obviously been a lot of talk about death around the pagan blogosphere. And I've realized that, as far as human death is concerned, I am very inexperienced. Sure, I've attended my share of funerals but they were all for great aunts and uncles and grandparents and I've never been particularly close to the deceased. I've had extended family members die violently but noone close to me. The only personal experience I have of the death of a truly close loved one is the loss of beloved pets. In fact, I've lost more cherished furry family members than human relatives. I've never lost a dear friend or a parent or a sibling or a close cousin to death. *knock wood* I've always cried at funerals because I'm such an empath and, like Truvy in Steel Magnolias, I have a strict rule that no one cries alone in my presence. I can't help it, if someone around me is crying then I'm crying. Hel, I can't watch a funeral on TV or in a movie without my eyes tearing up. But I've never cried at a funeral out of sincere and crushing grief. I've never felt that punch in the stomach or that kick to the back of the knees at the news of the death of a loved one. I've been heartbroken at the death of a feline child but not the loss of a human. So I guess I'm very inexperienced when it comes to death. I don't know whether I'm lucky or unlucky in that regard. I guess I'm lucky in the sense that I've never suffered the loss of someone truly close to me. But I'm also unlucky in the sense that when death does inevitably come knocking I'll have little basis of understanding how to deal with it. I might be floored and useless to those around me. Time will tell of course but at least now I understand why I have a hard time relating to the dead: I've never lost anyone I really knew and cherished and deeply missed.

New Evidence in WM3 Case

Way back in 1993 three 8-year-old boys were found hogtied and murdered in the West Memphis area. If you remember the early 90s you'll remember that Satanism was the crime de rigueur for a while there and this horrible crime was one of the low points during that hysteria. Due to the ages of the victims, the supposed ritualistic nature of the crime and the fact that the genitals of one of the boys were mutilated Satanism was the first conclusion the investigators jumped at. The killers were either witches or Satanists in the eyes of the police and the media. And after nearly brainwashing one of the suspects, a borderline mentally retarded man, with lies and horror stories he confessed and fingered two other young men. There was no forensic evidence and the investigation was a joke fueled by community outrage and fear. And even though Jessie Misskelly's false confession didn't jive with the actual crime, mentioning weapons that weren't used for example, the three were convicted. Now, after 14 years of new evidence surfacing and witnesses retracting their statements Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelly and Jason Baldwin finally have some hope of vindication and release. From KTHV West Memphis:

One of the convicted murder's lawyers says DNA evidence gathered after the killings does not match the three men imprisoned for the crimes...Thursday in Little Rock, Riordan introduced multiple DNA test analysis from dozens of pieces of evidence.
One of those was a hair found at the scene not belonging to those convicted, but rather matching Terry Hobbs, the step-father of one of the victims...Defense attorneys also say these new evidence links David Jacoby, a good friend of Hobbs to the scene.

Now I'm not saying Hobbs and Jacoby are guilty but it sure makes a whole helluva lot more sense that the DNA of the murderer(s) would be present. After all this time there is cautious cause to hope that the West Memphis Three might one day see the light of day.

This has been a very important case to many people for many reasons, especially the neopagan community due to occult overtones of the allegations of the so-called investigators and media. For more information and viewpoints of the WM3 case from the neopagan community visit the WM3 page at Witchvox. The best site for information about this case is Free the West Memphis Three

University Recognizes Pagan Holydays

After several controversial requests, the university's policy regarding absences excused for religious reasons is under review, and the decision has been made to add Pagan holidays to the list of excusable holidays.

"Based on the research I've done, Paganism is practiced by a group of people large enough for it to be considered a major religion," Steve Hensley, dean of student affairs, said.

The Parthenon Online Student Newspaper

The above comes from Marshall University in West Virginia. I find the time and place of the decision somewhat interesting but I'm still impressed by Mr. Hensley. The timing is a little odd in that we're nearing Hallowe'en or Samhain and the fundies as well as some pagans are all up in arms about the Assault on Halloween and tasteless Halloween decorations but I bet Marshall's pagan students feel great. Good for them.

I was curious about other universities that excuse students for pagan holidays and I found a few. According to this 2002 Fox article the University of Arizona as well as Lehigh University in Pennsylvania also excuse students who honor the pagan holidays. Denison U in Ohio includes the pagan holidays on their sacred calendar as well. I found a few other references to pagan holidays being recognized by colleges and universities but several of them were older, timed out articles.

After that my goooogle search kinda petered out but it's still plain that the recognition of pagan holidays on school calendars might one day become commonplace and the recent Marshall University decision speaks to that. I think it's a good thing and a natural result of the growth of neopaganism within the typical college-age young adult crowd. I was in my early twenties when I was called to neopaganism as are many who spend their twenties searching for something meaningful to fulfill their lives. I look forward to learning of more universities and colleges reaching similar decisions in the future.

Some Pagans Need to Shut Up

I've been thinking about this for years and have finally decided to write about it: Gossipy pagans, jaw flapping, badmouthing pagans who repeat and embellish anything they hear about others and sometimes make a big damn deal out of nothing. My first encounter with this occurred when I visited the most established and public group that I know of, a group from Springfield. I won't mention the name of the group or the individuals involved; I just want to recount the story. This was quite a while ago and things may very well be different. I had never met with any group before so I was nervous and excited when I attended my first pagan discussion meeting. And I was disillusioned and disappointed when the topic of soul bodies drifted into the area of "let's bash this other group". They spent so much time badmouthing this other group and its members I didn't end up learning anything except how spiteful the gossipy people were. I was craving pagan community and thirsting for magical experience and knowledge and instead what I got was conversation unworthy of an elementary school playground, much less an adult pagan discussion group.

I was a lot younger then and I was a beginning witch and didn't have the heart or the guts to discourage such behavior. But even then I was disappointed not only at the way the meeting had gone but at the mere fact that these more experienced pagans indulged in such a pointless and harmful activity. I thought, perhaps arrogantly, perhaps foolishly, that folks older than me with years more training and experience than me would automatically be wiser and above such a thing as gossip. I had assumed that those who had been walking their pagan path for many years would be beyond such things as witch wars and taking sides and swapping rumors and all that crap. I thought I had left that shit behind in high school. Not so. And I was reminded of this fact again when I attended the Springfield Pagan Pride Day and witnessed the conversation between two women who had a non-friend in common. The conversation had started with witchcraft and historical information but devolved into a case of two people agreeing with each other about how much they disliked another. I didn't know any of the people involved so I didn't feel I could say anything but now I kind of wish I had. I ask you: is this the kind of people we, as pagans, want to be? Is this the kind of behavior we want our children to emulate? Shouldn't we strive to have more honor and wisdom than that?

As practitioners of a religion that often falls into the "new age" category shouldn't we be aiming to bring something that's actually new to the human dynamic? Instead of name-calling and backstabbing and cliquishness we should put common courtesy and honesty above the desire to badmouth someone we don't consider a friend. Have some honor my fellow pagans and witches, if you can't say something good and you don't have anything concrete to back up gossip then just keep your trap shut.

Pagan Pride Day

Two friends and I attended the Springfield Pagan Pride Day this weekend. We had a really good time! Although this event was fairly small compared to big city events there were still upwards of 200 or 300 people attending. There were about a dozen or so vendors and several services offered like palm reading and tarot readings. The vendors had a wide variety of items for sale, everything from handmade items like jewelry, soaps and candles, afghans, lots of wood items with wood burned pagan symbols and images and beautiful glass figurines. In fact, the glass artist made various figurines on the spot all day and it was mesmerizing to watch him. His items were Pyrex and thusly much tougher than most glass figurines. He made dragons, butterflies, owls, griffons, horses and anything anyone asked for. If I'd had the money I would have bought a zillion of his wares, they were so beautiful!

There were a few herbs and voodoo items, sparkly circlets, beaded items, bath beads and a few tumbled stones and crystals. Also for sale were many pre-made items like dragon ashtrays and candleholders that can be found in most head shops or pagan-oriented shops. But there was great variety and I wished I'd brought more money! There were quite a few items raffled off for charity and entrance into the event was a non-perishable food item. There were quite a few workshops offered including ribbon magic, which I attended and enjoyed even though it was brief, a drumming workshop which blessed the event with beautiful music all day, paganism 101, metaphysical discussion and a fascinating workshop on Voodoo and Wanga Bottles. I learned a little more about hoodoo from the very knowledgeable workshop leader and had a nice time talking shop with the other women there. It wasn't held in the most comfortable spot and I got rather sunburned making my bottle, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. After I finished dressing my bottle I felt fried and hungry and we left shortly after that. (More to come about Wanga Bottles in another post.)

Looking back, I wished I'd had more time to network and enjoy the fellowship but I'm kinda shy around strangers and as I rarely leave the house it still felt good to be out and about with my kind of people. All in all, it was a very positive experience and I enjoyed it immensely.

Framing the Moon

I don't know why but often when I'm gazing at the moon the trees will form a perfect natural frame for her. I'll be walking around, either with the dogs or by myself, and look up to see the moon clearly visible between branches. As I walk around the yard many times during the night, and day, this phenomenon happens quite a lot. Maybe 'phenomenon' is the wrong word. It has the connotation of a happy accident, an interesting coincidence. And, as a witch, I think it's more than that. Gazing at the moon, meditating on her influence, thinking about the various deities connected with her and how all of those things relate to me personally is the one constant in my life. I have always done it. Long before I created an altar or a magical book I was worshiping the moon. When I was attending Baptist church services in high school during my attempt-to-get-religion phase I was speaking with the moon on a regular basis.

During the lowest points in my life I communed with her and found some sense of peace. When my brother was in the hospital after his psychotic break I found solace in the wonder of a lunar eclipse. When I suffered from crippling, paralyzing depression, and eventually stopped feeling altogether, during the low points of my bipolar disorder she was there to serve as a beacon of hope. When I got a little older and said disorder took me to the heights of mania she gave me a sense of calm. And no matter where I was living, I could almost always count on seeing her through tree branches that seemed to have soaked up the sunlight just so they could showcase her reflective glory. There are times when I wonder if I could do more as a witch, or as a neopagan. It's the human condition to doubt and I am not immune to it. I sometimes wonder if I'm not a very good witch/neopagan because I don't always make a big deal out of the holydays, or because I don't read every book I can get my hands on like I once did. Is my practice a serious one even though I don't light my candles every day? Am I a bad neopagan because I don't pray every day? These kinds of questions will occasionally get me down, especially when I somewhat foolishly compare myself to other neopagans. But when it comes down to it, all I really need is to take a midnight walk and I'm right where I need to be: in the embrace of the moon.

Mabon with Friends

Ah, the autumn equinox, the official beginning of the fall. I actually celebrated the day twice with two different groups of pagan friends, which is something I haven't done in a long while. We had a great barbecue here at home with all sorts of homegrown vegetables as well as smoked ham, fried okra, mashed potatoes, garlic bread and other foods. And except for me drinking too much beer on an empty stomach it went really well. It was warm outside but not too uncomfortable. The only irritating thing was the flies that loved all of our food. My pagan friends from around home are going to get the group going again now that some of their other pressing obligations have simmered down.

On the actual day of the equinox I got to reconnect with some good friends from Springfield that I hadn't seen in several years. We had had an unpleasant falling out back in the day and it was great to see them again. I had co-founded a women's circle with the two women there and it was just awesome to see them again. We had wonderful food with two different kinds of salad, garlic bread and a wonderful pork roast cooked in red wine and cranberries. It's a 45 minute schlep to see them but it's well worth it. I'm hoping to see them on a regular basis and maybe form a new women's group with them.

Even though the temperatures are still quite warm and we've still got the air conditioners running I'm filled with a calm hope that me and my pagan friends, from here and Springfield, have great things ahead of us and that this autumn will be the beginning of some real growth.

Bush Apologizes to Snubbed Wiccan War Widow

FERNLEY, Nev. (AP) - President Bush called a Fernley military widow on Thursday and apologized for her not being invited to a private meeting earlier this week in Reno, when he met briefly with the families of fallen Nevada soldiers.

The president's phone call to Roberta Stewart came a day after White House and military officials said her exclusion from Tuesday's meeting was an oversight and not an intentional snub because of her Wiccan faith.

Las Vegas Sun article

Call me cynical, you would be right, but I don't quite buy this as sincere. The White House invited the parents and siblings of a fallen soldier but not the widow? Please, spare me. I'm from cow country and I recognize bullshit when I smell it. I'm sure Roberta Stewart wanted to keep the peace but I wonder if she really thought Holy American Emperor George was sincere in his apology. Personally, I'm not buying it. In 1999 he told ABC News: "I don't think that witchcraft is a religion." And while I recognize that people can change I have a very hard time thinking that 'ol Shrub could have a change of heart of this magnitude. He hasn't changed his mind about mutilating our Constitution nor has he changed his mind about torture and wrongful imprisonment. He still doesn't care about the people of New Orleans or the innocents of the Middle East. Of course now he says that he won't discriminate against any religion, he probably still doesn't consider witchcraft or Wicca or paganism to be real religion so he can say whatever he wants. Maybe this is his way of extending an olive branch but I'm holding out for something better than a half-assed phone call after the press and photographers are gone.

The Slide into Winter

I spent some time outside tonight and got to enjoy the very beginnings of autumn. This was the first night in a long while that I could be comfortable outside. The bugs aren't as numerous and it's not as humid. It's still getting plenty hot during the day but the summer is just beginning to slow down. I like to think of it as the beginning of the slide into home. The autumn is my favorite time of year; the discomfort of summer eases and, for a while, everything keeps growing. And later, when it really starts to cool down and the trees lose their leaves, it's nearly time for Samhain, probably my favorite holyday. It's always, to me, the most magical time of the year. I don't necessarily always do a ritual on Samhain for various reasons but mostly because I don't always feel the need for ritual; I can already feel the magic and energy and spirits moving around me, through me and everyone near me. All living things are different during the Samhain season, not everyone recognizes it but I'm certain everyone feels it. Some people misunderstand it and therefore fear it, calling Samhain or Hallowe'en "evil", but I confess I don't care. It's doesn't even bother me that the candy industry makes a huge buck on treat-or-treating. It's an American tradition I hope lasts forever.

Every child should have the opportunity to take on different personas with makeup, masks, colored hairspray and costumes and troll their neighborhoods for sweets. Every family should get to decorate their home with fake spider webs and purple lights and freaky music and smoke machines. And pumpkins, let's not forget pumpkins! Even if left uncarved they're still gorgeous. I don't know how many times I've taken a pumpkin or two, a handful of orange, red and brown leaves, thrown them in a basket and enjoyed it for months on end. These are American autumn rituals that everyone should feel free to experience. The magic of this season is hard to pin down. Traditionally this is the time of year when the division between the lands of the living and the other world(s) is at its weakest or thinnest. I honestly don't know about that; I've never seen or experienced anything that would make me think an otherworldly spirit was around, so I can't vouch for that. I just feel different during Samhain; the vibe of every plant, animal and human is different: more vibrant, more aware, more in tune with each other and the natural world. Many pagans consider this to be the end of year, the annual death of the Horned God or Green Man, hence the dying of plant life and the colder temperatures. He will eventually return during the season of Yule as the sun returns after the longest night of the year. But for now, he is still with us and his juices flow in the sap and blood of all living things. Here's hoping for a long, slow, smooth ride.