My Thoughts on the Infamous Time Magazine Breastfeeding Cover

By now everyone's gotten an eyeful of Time Magazine's latest cover featuring a MILF suckling a 3-year old boy standing on chair. (If you haven't follow the link and then come back here so we can continue this discussion on equal footing.) If you're like me, you had a bit of a shocked and confused initial reaction and then you scolded yourself for being shocked and confused about something so natural and then, if you're like me, you wondered WHY you were shocked and confused. That is, again, if you're like me. And so this post is all about WHY I was shocked and confused and maybe a little bit annoyed by that picture.

I've read the comments and I know why other people are shocked and confused. They see this boy dressed in grownup clothes standing in a grownup stance suckling on a grownup woman and it seems somehow sexual to them. This is not my issue. To me, this picture is not sexual at all. This child is nowhere near puberty and the pose isn't the least bit sexual. It's not even intimate except for the mouth to boob contact and that, I think is one of the things that bothers me. Because nursing is intimate.

It took me a minute to realize exactly what was going on in the picture because the pose is so discordant with the idea of nursing a child in my mind. I have nursed three children now, my mother nursed us all and I was well past the age of knowing what was going on as she nursed my younger sisters and I've never seen such a cold, impersonal, nursing stance. That kid could be nursing off of any woman off the street. When you nurse your child (in my mind) they should be in your arms. You should be looking at them and they at you, not at a camera. (Or their eyes should be closed, rolling back in that blissful state approaching the milk drunk.)  I mean seriously, if you're going to nurse like that, you might as well pump.

This picture is provocative in so many ways. This kid in his cammo pants and his mom almost look combative, challenging. And they don't look challenging to all the "cover your boobs" people; no, the message here is not to people who can't stand the sight of a breastfeeding woman. The challenge is for the rest of us: Those who do breast feed our children but under cover and in the privacy of our own homes; those who wean at 6 months, a year, even two years. The message is, "You are inadequate, you are not the mom I am." And of course, I believe that's exactly what Time Magazine is going for. I haven't read the article (I probably only will if the magazine makes its way to the free stack in the pediatrician's office.) but I suspect that's what it's about- The ridiculous contest this generation's mothers seems to be having to adhere to the most extreme parenting style imaginable.

Now I agree with most of the ideas behind attachment parenting. I always have, even before I knew it had a name (and WHY does everything have to have a name these days?), but parenting isn't a competition. Even Dr. Sears says you have to do what works for your family. My teenagers co-slept till they were 3, but only nursed for a year, until my milk dried up from too much formula supplementation - I had to work to support them and they just didn't have very good pumps in those days. I tried co-sleeping with my current little one, but my back was killing me and he just wasn't sleeping at night. I set up a crib next to the bed where we can gaze at each other and we both sleep perfectly. I feel confident that he and I will nurse much longer than a year, since I now have to work only one day a week and my double electric breast pump fills TWO bottles in 20 minutes flat - especially when I'm engorged after spending 5 hours training dogs on Saturday morning and that's all he needs for the week because I'm with him every other minute. Same mom, different infancies, different moms... well, you get the point. We work with what we've got.

But I digress.

The other thought I had viewing the this image was - she's been breastfeeding for three years and her boobs look like that? Damn genetics. Damn airbrushing.

Still not a freaking contest.

Discrimination in Vancouver? Maybe...

In another edition of WTF my fellow Pagans, a British Columbia man is accusing the Vancouver Police Board of discriminating against him based on his religion and sexual orientation in denying him a chauffeur's license back in 2006. The courts have finally gotten around to dealing with this situation. It seems Canada is just as slow as the US when it comes to finally shorting stuff out.

According to an article on British Columbia's CTV News website, this man showed up to the licensing interview wearing all black and informed his interviewer that he wears all black because he is a Pagan (as a tree-hugging Pagan who wears mostly green and brown I am already put off by this guy). He also revealed to his interviewer that his sexual orientation is BDSM. I am not sure that BDSM is a sexual orientation and perhaps (as discussed in the article) that is a matter that the B.C. Supreme Court will eventually have to decide, though they won't right now. At any rate, why would someone walk into an interview, dressed all in black and announce that they were BDSM if they weren't trying to cause a ruckus? But I digress.

The interviewer who denied him his license says it was because of his past record in which no charges were filed but several complaints of minor violence and inappropriate sexual behavior had been made. However, during the interview, according to the would-be chauffeur, the interviewer was insulting and rude and told him that he would not give him a license to recruit people into his "sex cult" which doesn't look very good on him.

While both men didn't behave in the most intelligent manner, ultimately the tribunal decided that there was no discrimination in this case and while I'm not sure if that's true, I think it was probably a good idea to deny this guy a chauffeur's license anyway. What think you, dear reader?

Druid Organization Recognized in Britain

This week, the English Charity Commission officially recognized a Druid organization as a religious charity allowing The Druid Network to enjoy tax exempt status (as Druid and many other Pagan organizations do here in the US already.)
The full text of the commission's decision may be read here.

The Druid Network first began working toward its goal of official recognition of their organization as a religious charity in England nearly five years ago. Their success helps validate the charitable work of Pagan organizations and Enland and opens the door to other organizations to enjoy similar success. I am sure all Druids and Pagans here in the US will join me in offering our brethren across the sea a hearty congratulations!

Read more in this Associated Press Article





Voudou Practitioners Claim Christians are Monopolizing Haiti Aid

According to the UK Telegraph, Max Beauvoir, a Voodoo leader in Haiti claims that the evangelical Christians in Haiti have taken over the aid effort and are excluding Voodoo peoples.


But there ARE Voudou organizations on the ground. If you want to make sure that your donation goes to the Voodoo people in Haiti, consider sending it to Voudou Aid, the charity arm of the Roots Without End Society . They are on the ground, in Haiti and dealing directly with the Haitian people and do not discriminate based on religious belief.

Get updates on how they are dealing with the Earthquake here.

Pagans in the News and Media

A New Jersey evangelical Fed Ex driver left a Chick Tract with the wrong witch in New Jersey according to an article in the Mount Olive Chronicle. Trish Reynolds, a Pagan author (of such books as The Demons of Drey (Seeker's Quest) and A Question of Balance ) looked out her window one day to see a Fed Ex Driver do a double take at her "Goddess Bless America" and pentagram bumper sticker, return to his truck and come back to put a Chick Tract on her window. If you've ever read one of those rags you know how offensive they are. The list of ridiculous claims made by these is huge (and Wikipedia has such a huge discussion on this subject) She could have just thrown it out, but she's not that kind of witch. She complained and insisted on action. My kind of woman.
More info about Trish Reynolds and her projects can be found at her website http://www.zyalia.com/

I am a firm believer that garb has its place, and jeans have theirs. I admit it I'm a closet fashion junky (you'd never know it meeting me, I know) If you're a fan of reality TV you might be interested in checking out What Not to Wear on TLC this Friday as it features a Salem witch whose witchy wardrobe is put on "trial" (Salem witch trial style) by other members of the Pagan and psychic community, including Christian Day one of the voices of the Hex Education podcast the driving force behind Salem's annual Festival of the Dead before she is whisked off to New York for the usual makeover business. You can find all the dirt at the Glouster Times website.

According to HeraldNet, A missing woman in Washington is believed to have been murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend, who happens to be Wiccan, apparently. I don't want to comment on this much more because it is unpleasant, but I will say this- If you read the article, you will find that neighbors upon questioning admitted to hearing a "loud and violent confrontation between a man and a woman" in her apartment FOUR DAYS before she was reported missing by her employers because she show up for work!! WTF people? Why do people not call the cops when this shit goes down? WTF I say.

I often complain about the sad state our society is in that people don't know their neighbors, don't check up on their neighbors, don't show any concern for their neighbors. It's amazing to me that up north where there are acres, and sometimes miles between houses people know more about their neighbors than in places where we're practically on top of each other in apartments and McMansions and trailers. Remember this poor woman the next time you ignore the screams from the apartment upstairs.

In a World Gone Mad...

This has been a week of shocking news. First, NASA shot a rocket at the moon in search of water. Why a rover wouldn't have been a better choice for this mission, I can't say. And by all that is holy, why does it matter, really in the big picture if there is water on the moon? Unless of course we're planning for the day when we have no water left on Earth? Or does it have more to do with the idea of abandoning Earth altogether after we've fucked it up and going to live on the moon?

I am having a really hard time with this. I understand that the moon is uninhabited and the rocket wasn't big enough to do any real damage and etc. Cognitively I understand all that. But I'm still pretty upset about it. Perhaps this is because I consider the moon sacred. Perhaps it's because I was traumatized by the book The Dead and the Gone (highly recommended for young readers by the way, my 12 year old son loved it). Maybe it's the price tag. Mostly, it's the hubris of it all that rubs me the wrong way. Doesn't the moon affect the entire Earth? Did NASA take a worldwide vote on this? It's not their moon.

The next shocker came when President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Even he was shocked. As you know if you've read me before, I love Obama with that pure true love that allows me to accept his faults while still celebrating his total awesomeness. I maintain that adoration even as I rail against some of his administrations policies. I realize that part of this is just because he's good-looking and well-spoken, but there's no shame in standing behind a good-looking and well-spoken leader. My love for him has only made it more painful as his presidency comes to resemble a Cohen Brothers' movie and this latest Peace Prize debacle has only made it worse. Thanks Norway.

Why is it so terrible? Partly because it shines a huge spotlight on the fact that, as Saturday Night Live recently pointed out, he hasn't managed to accomplish much so far. I am the first to leap to his defense and remind my fellow Americans that the President's job does not come with a magic wand of instant gratification. No, he is but one man subject to the whim of the House and Senate as our forefathers arranged because if we gave one man the sort of power that people seem to expect from the President these days, it would be a Very Bad Thing.

Another reason why this Nobel Peace prize debacle is disturbing is because it's sort of a glass ceiling of accomplishments. It sets poor Mr Obama up to have nowhere to go but down.

And finally, it gives people another reason to resent him - as if we don't have enough.

Can the President just get on with being a President? Can we give him some time to accomplish some stuff before we start judging his accomplishments? I think a year is reasonable. It hasn't been a year yet. I promise not to gripe about anyone who wants to make judgments in February 2010.


And the final insanity that has struck my brain leaving me stammering ... WTF?

My mother bought my son a real sword to go with his Halloween costume. Yea. It's a good idea to walk around Salem on Halloween with a real sword.

Why wasn't it so easy to get her to buy crazy stuff when I was a kid?

Sweat Lodge Safety

Many Pagan spiritual retreats feature sweat lodges. Indeed they seem to have become quite fashionable in the past few years outside of Pagan circles as well. With the recent sweat lodge tragedy at the Spiritual Warrior self help retreat in Arizona, it may be prudent to take a look at sweat lodges and safety issues associated with them. (We can talk about paying $10,000 for a spiritual retreat in some other blog...)

A sweat lodge is a Native American tradition. It is much like a sauna and uses hot rocks and steam inside an tent-like structure to cause the air to heat up which opens up the participants' pores and helps to purify their bodies while inducing a mild trance-like or deeply relaxed state, useful for meditation, group journey and other spiritual applications. It is generally used in preparation for some other ritual. The sweat lodge ceremony is a purification ceremony that helps build a profound connection toward the other participants through shared spiritual experience.

Here are a few simple rules that can be applied to the sweat lodge as well as many other spiritual activities to ensure your safety and enjoyment.

Know Your Body
If you have a heart problem, if you are pregnant, if you have anything weird going on with you- don't do it. Talk to your doctor about your condition and how a sweat will affect it. If your doctor just doesn't get it, use comparisons, like- "what if I spent an extended period of time in a sauna?

Build it Right
Your sweat lodge should be built using natural materials, skins, canvas, blankets, etc. Not plastic. This allows for natural airflow and absorption of excess moisture. Besides, the jury is still out on what sort of toxins drip off warm plastic. Rocks should be heated outside the lodge, not inside.

Never Do it Alone
Use the buddy system. It is difficult to think clearly when one is mentally disengaged. There should always be someone willing to refrain from whatever the activity is to make sure everything goes smoothly. In fact...

Always Have an Experienced Facilitator
The first several times you sweat, you should do so under the guidance not just of someone who has done it before, but of someone who has done it many times and who knows what to expect and watch for and what precautions to take.

Drink Lots of Water
Fasting is often part of the sweat lodge ceremony and indeed can enhance any spiritual experience. However, many people neglect water while fasting. This is very dangerous and pointless. The point of fasting is to purification. You cannot purify yourself without water to flush out the old impurities. And if you go into a sweat without adequate fluids in your system, you run a very real risk of dehydration or heat stroke. Fast or no fast, drink lots of water. Not alcohol. Water.

Don't Overcrowd the Lodge
Sweat lodges generally hold up to a dozen people. You should be able to sit comfortably in the lodge without crowding. Remember the lodge is near air tight. Suffocation is a very real possibility if you overcrowd it. Besides, your facilitator will have a very hard time monitoring more than a dozen people at a time. If you have a large number of of people, have one group watch the fire and heat the rocks while the other group sweats and then switch.

Don't be Afraid to Wuss Out
If your facilitator tells you to leave, do it. Don't fight it. If you start to feel faint, breathless or otherwise uncomfortable, seriously consider leading. You will probably be able to stay longer next time around and your facilitator will likely comfort you with stories of other wusses later. Never EVER give someone a hard time if they need to leave. If you do that, you're an asshole.

If Other People Get Sick - Call it Off
You should not feel sick in a sweat lodge. If other people are feeling ill, besides what can be expected- feeling overheated, claustrophobic, needing to step out for air - call it off. This is a sign that something is wrong. If someone loses consciousness, this is a sign that something is very wrong.

Don't Overdo It
An hour is plenty long for a beginner's sweat lodge ceremony. Test your limits carefully and go for a longer ceremony later if you find an hour is easy for you.

Most of these are very common sense and you may be insulted I bothered to mention them, but the tragedy at the Spiritual Warrior's retreat illustrates that sometimes even the obvious needs to be pointed out. As more details about the event emerge, it seems more and more as if the cause of death here was carelessness and failure to follow the most basic of safety rules. The motive, of course, was greed. What else would have prompted someone to stuff 60 some odd people into a sweat lodge!

I hope that those events don't cast a bad light on sweat lodges (which are really quite safe) and lead to extra scrutiny of other events that feature sweat lodge ceremonies.

I am sure there is more to be said about being safe in the sweat lodge and I welcome comments from others on the subject.

Some Confusion in the News

Harvest season is Pagan Pride Season. I think it's possible that our Detroit Pagan Pride Day (August 8th) was the first and despite the fact that it was cold and raining pretty much the whole day, I think a good time was had by all. Unless you're local and have therefore already had your Pagan Pride Day, it's safe to say there's a Pagan Pride Day coming to a metro area near you. Visit the Pagan Pride Day website to find out more.

An Odinist group in California caused a stir when witnesses to their harvest rite decided they must be Nazis. They've got a good attitude about it, admitting that they can see why people might think that, but everyone admits nobody broke any laws. You can find out more about the Raven's Folk Kindred at their website as well as hear a bit more of their side of the story.

Another case that's a little more confusing is the expulsion of a Wiccan from an energy healing program. Sally Wild claims she was kicked out for being Wiccan (Does it blow anyone else's mind that a Wiccan would be thrown out of an energy healing program?) while the program director said that it was a result of concerns about her mental state and unstable behavior. The court rejected Ms Wild's complaint.

By the way: Remember the Wookey Hole Witch auditions? They hired a real estate agent.

Another Quick Look at Current Events

If you're a fan of The Wicker Man, you'll be excited to know that there's a sequel in the works, starring Sir Christopher Lee (as it should) called Cowboys for Christ it's based on a book by the same title by Robin Hardy.

If you think earth works and giant images in sides of mountains are only remnants of the ancient past, check out the proposed Green Goddess of the North to be installed by a mining company in Northumberland in the UK.

The community was also abuzz in the past weeks over a tourist trap in the UK posting a well-paying position for a witch. If you're interested, check out the website and be ready to prove that you're witchier than anyone else in on-site auditions on July 28th.

In more employment news out of the UK, Pagan police officers are now guaranteed time off for Pagan High Days. A Pagan Police Association is also in the works. Nice one, UK! I wonder if the the Wookey Hole Witch will get Sabbats off. Somehow I doubt it.

By the way, if you're interested in the status of Pagan police officers in the United States, check out Officers of Avalon.

Not all of the news out of Europe is good this cycle. Vasily Chervoni, a Ukrainian politician was struck by lightening and killed on a fishing trip. I'm sure someone somewhere is going to have a field day with that one!

Not all of the news is out of Europe! Gulf Islanders celebrated a Nordic Festival earlier this month.

... and our own Jonathan Sharkey, the Vampyre King (remember the candidate from the Vampyre Witches & Pagan Party which, alas, does not seem to have a website) is on his way to Indianapolis Jail on harassment charges. It seems he thought he was being pursued by a vampire hunter.

Meanwhile, a Connecticut community is puzzling over various ritual items that have been found in various places around town. Weird stuff and, unlike some reports of ritual activity that is more like crazy people than magick-users, this seems to be actual ritual activity.

A Quick Look at Current Events

Here's a look at some news of interest to the Pagan community at large:

As with just about any Pagan holiday, the summer solstice seems to be an invitation for the media to take note that Pagans exist. This year, Pagans in Russia got some attention as did a few in Texas. And of course, we cannot forget Stonehenge

As a Neo-Hellenic Polytheist, I am always fascinated with news coming out of Greece and a fellow member of the Hellenic Pagan Yahoo group posted a great article about connecting with Poseidon in Athens and another one that got me even more excited about shows performed at the open air amphitheater at Epidaurus. I was excited because I've been there, though I didn't get to see a show. I am not sure there were shows back then. But I'm ready to head back to Greece at the first opportunity.

I'm not sure how I feel about this article about sex offenders. The offenders interviewed just happen to be Pagan, but that's not what the article is about. I've always thought our sex offender laws needed a bit of an overhaul and maybe they do, but that is one heck of a loaded topic. Kudos to the journalist who tackled it, but I'm not sure he got to the point. How should sex offenders be dealt with? And more to the point of Witchmoot, how should the Pagan community address this issue?

Witchcraft and Weirdness with Heather Graham

So people are pointing out how stupid this girl is and how weird she is being... but in her I hear echos of my own teenage experiments and I'm thinking, "oh she's just discovering witchcraft and she's excited" and we didn't make fools of ourselves because we weren't in the public eye.

That being said... Isn't she a little old for that? The giddiness I mean. And doesn't she have handlers to tell her to put the brakes on before she makes a fool of herself? Anyway. I think it's cute. Is that patronizing? Disrespectful? Yea. Maybe, but I still think it's cute.



What blows my mind is that when asked how she felt about the breastfeeding scene in the this clip she replies that she thought it was weird but she likes raunchy humor so it was okay.

Breastfeeding = raunchy humor? What is raunchy or humorous about breastfeeding exactly? Okay, the discomfort of the guys in the scene was kind of funny, but raunchy? I don't get it.

She's just out to offend, shock or annoy everyone huh? Or maybe she really is that stupid. I find it hard to believe that anyone could be, but I guess if I can believe in magic I can believe in stupid people.

Pagan Community News Update

<b>Much Ado About the Lawn</b>
As a Greek Orthodox church prepared to plant a community garden earlier this month they were "shocked" to discover their 1-acre plot had been <a href="http://www.cantonrep.com/news/x362991935/Vandals-cut-satanic-symbol-into-grass-next-to-church">vandalized</a>. A pentagram had been cut into the lawn with a lawn mower. As far as vandalism goes, pretty harmless but boy what a <a href="http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-satanicsymbol-txt,0,3348096.story?track=rss">hullabaloo</a>. However, they will continue undaunted, as if a Pagan fertility symbol would daunt their efforts to plant a garden, and purify the land and carry on. Or I guess they could just mow the rest of the lawn...


<b>Archaeologists Ponder Old Stuff and New Old Stuff</b>
I am obsessed with Anthropology and Archaeology and I just love sites like Vesuvius. I had the opportunity to visit once and let me tell you, it cannot be described. You must go there. Unfortunately, a lot of what was there is no longer there. <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25468053-12332,00.html?from=public_rss">As this article points out</a>, much of the site was stripped of anything valuable by collectors before the scientists got to it.

In other, perhaps less redundant Archaeology news, Archaeologists in Germany believe they have found the oldest man-made human figure. <a href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1688745/archeologists_find_oldest_representation_of_a_female_body/index.html?source=r_science">Of course she's a woman</a>.


<b>Obama, Sex, Babies and Catholics</b>
Has pragmatism really come to Washington? Obama has done stuff I don't like, and stuff I like. I am not dancing with joy over his budget (I don't know that he is either) but I am glad that it seeks to end annoying and harmful programs like <a href="http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/05/07/the-end-of-abstinence-only/?xid=rss-topstories">abstinence only sex education</a>.

In related news, his invitation to deliver the commencement speech at Notre Dame <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/437/story/1200827.html">sent the Catholic pro-Life folks into a tizzy</a> leading them to decide it was appropriate to interfere with one of the great milestones in the lives of thousands of students to show off pictures of aborted fetuses and otherwise display their complete lack of respect for everyone present. I'm all about free speech. But there is a time and a place. But I also get that I don't get it. R<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/17/obama-notre-dame-speech-f_n_204387.html">ead his speech</a> and see where he stands on the issue (he thinks we need to focus on preventing abortions.)


<b>Various Freedom of Religion Ruckuses (Ruckusi?)</b>
Dorchester County Council in South Carolina <a href="http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/may/05/religion_causes_ruckus81080/">had a disagreement</a> over whether to characterize America as a Christian Nation.

Meanwhile, an Ohio school board has been notified that it should lay off the <a href="http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20090519/NEWS01/905190304/1002/rss01">prayers in its graduation ceremonies</a>. Wow. So much graduation drama.

<b>Faith and Healing</b>
<a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/falmouth/news/x407214895/Falmouth-girl-recovering-from-cancer-helps-others">Here's a heartwarming story</a> about a young cancer survivor and her family who is working to bring healing to others. Why am I including this in a Pagan blog? Because they happen to be Wiccan and use energetic and holistic healing methods.

<b>Gay Pagans?</b>
A Q&amp;A column out of Jacksonville, Florida asks the question, "Do Pagans think it's Okay to be Gay?" <a href="http://www.jacksonville.com/lifestyles/columnists/phillip_milano/2009-05-20/story/dare_to_ask_do_pagans_say_its_ok_to_be_gay">See what people had to say about it</a>. I was down with pretty much all of it until M. Macha Nightmare started rambling about the Law of 3-Fold Return, which a good chuck of us (Pagans) completely reject as being foolishness (one-fold I can see, threefold makes no logical sense.) and doesn't relate to the question anyway.

What do you think about these stories? I'd love to hear your thoughts on these and your input on more I haven't found.

Another News Update

Arthur Pendragon (Not the roundtable guy, the British Druid guy) has been sitting in at Stonehenge for the last 10 months protesting, among other things, the removal of remains buried there but now he's been ordered to pack up and leave. He says hell no, he won't go. He's a Pagan archaologist's nightmare but you have to admire his gumption.

In Mexico Santa Muerte has been getting a lot of hassle from the government who links her to drug trafficking. I'm not in Mexico, so I can't comment too much but I will say that I don't agree with any government crack down on any religious group. It can only bring trouble, besides being fundamentally wrong. There has been some speculation on the message boards that the swine flu and Mexico's earth quake might have been Santa Muerta's response to this. I'm not speculating, just saying that it's being done.

Awhile ago I took note of the demise of the First Church of Wicca. But it's not over, oh no. Apparently these folks can't get enough publicity and are in the news again. Nothing exciting. Just talking about how great it is to be all converted and stuff.

Midwestern US Pagans have something new to take note of. Balefire Magazine just released their first quarterly issue (for Beltane). The magazine is targeted specifically toward the Midwest Pagan audience.

Heathen members of the military and their families should take note of a new Asatru military family support program called the Hammer Project. One of their primary goals is to get Thor's Hammer (Mjolnir) approved for use on government provided headstones for Asatru veterans.

Blessings for an Historic Inauguration

<i>1569, from Fr. inauguration "installation, consecration," from L. inaugurationem (nom. inauguratio) "consecration, installment under good omens," from inaugurare "take omens from the flight of birds, consecrate or install when such omens are favorable," from in- "on, in" + augurare "to act as an augur, predict" (see augur).</i> (From <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inauguration">Dictionary.com</a>)

It's been said, someone said it, not sure who, but I'm sure I read it in some Pagan book that Paganism doesn't lend itself well to politics. I remember this particularly because I was so surprised that someone would say such a thing. Surely politics is as ancient as Pagan religion itself. Surely politics and Paganism go hand in hand! Especially in a Democracy where we have many leaders as we have many Gods. Indeed the very word comes from <i>ta politika</i> or "affairs of the state" which is the name of a book on the subject by Aristotle, a man submerged in Pagan culture in the 3rd century BCE who is credited with the wise saying: <i>"He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a God." </i>

At any rate, I have been thinking about this inauguration. I am feeling called by Spirit to prepare a ritual of blessing for our country and for our President and Vice-President elects and their families. I have never felt so moved.  I've even dropped some pretty heavy hints to people who own televisions that they should invite me over for the evening so I can watch.

Maybe it's because nobody I voted for ever got elected before. Maybe it's because I have felt a great energetic pall hanging over our country for the past several years and lately I've felt it lifting, but that could be imagination. Maybe it's because I'm a little bit enamored with our President elect and I'm terrified of an assassination attempt. Whatever it is, I will mark the occasion with magic, ritual, prayer and blessing. And it would seem that I'm not the only one!

<b>Ritual In Washington</b>

It is perhaps not surprising that the Pagan spiritual community of Washington DC is making its own preparations for the upcoming inauguration. Three Washington area witches, <a href="http://www.mythkenner.com/">Caroline Kenner</a> of the <a href="http://www.sacredspacefoundation.org/">Sacred Space Foundation</a>, <a href="http://www.katrinamessenger.com/">Katrina Messenger</a> of <a href="http://www.connectdc.org/node">Connect DC</a> and the <a href="http://www.reflectionsmyst.org/">Reflections Mystery School</a> and Caroline Casey of <a href="http://www.coyotenetworknews.com/">Coyote Network News</a> and The Visionary Activist are joining forces to provide anyone who can get out there an outlet for the sorts of longings that have descended upon me.

Their Ritual of Unity and Blessing, to take place at the Jefferson Memorial Plaza on the day before the inauguration will begin with a Witches Broom Dance followed by ritual for Unity and Protection for our government and the world and wrapping up with a drum circle. The public are invited to this important ritual. More information can be found at http://www.paganreligiousrights.org/

I wish I could go, but alas. I would love to hear some feedback from anyone who does though.

<b>Religious Uproars in Washington</b>

But all is not love and light as spirituality relates to this inauguration. Several groups are up in arms over religious issues. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Newdow">Michael Newdow</a>, a California Doctor who has made it his mission to protect us from everything slightly religious in nature has once again <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/31/inauguration.lawsuit/index.html">filed a lawsuit</a> demanding that "so help me God" be removed from the Oath and objecting to planned invocations and benedictions from clergy at the ceremony. He is not alone.

My opinion, if anyone wants to know. If Mr. Obama wishes to say "So help me <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27522679/">Grandma</a>" or "So help me <a href="http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread268257/pg1">Columbia</a>" instead of "So help me God" then he should certainly be permitted. However, Mr. Obama is a Christian man. It is my suspicion that he would like to say "So help me God" and I am not sure that it's very nice to deny him that right. Furthermore, his inauguration is, well, his inauguration. It's a major ritual, a rite of passage. I think he should have whatever spiritual support he deems necessary there.

Dan Brown of the <a href="http://www.ffrf.org/">Freedom From Religion Foundation</a> does not agree with that sentiment. In an <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&amp;pageId=84962">article from WorldNetDaily</a>, he states: <i>"The inauguration is not a religious event. It is a secular event of a secular country that includes all Americans, including those of us who are not Christians, including those of us who are not believers."</i> and suggests that Mr. Obama have his own private religious observance if he feels the need.

There's also been <a href="http://www.kplctv.com/global/story.asp?s=9617486">somewhat of an uproar</a> over Mr. Obama's choice of pastor to oversee the spiritual aspects of the ceremony. <a href="http://www.kplctv.com/global/story.asp?s=9617486">Rick Warren</a> of the conservative, evangelical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddleback_Church">Saddleback Church</a> in California actively supported California's Proposition 8, outlawing gay marriage in the state, though he denies hard feelings toward the gay community saying: <i>"I happen to love gays and straights. Who ever came up with the idea that you have to agree with everybody on everything in order to love them?"</i>. Though he has equated gay marriage with incest, polygamy and pederasty, he has also stated that divorce is more of a threat to families than gay marriage. What can I say, here's a man with deep convictions who thinks deeply about them. Do I agree with him? No. But I don't hate him for it either. I also think that he was perhaps not the best choice.

I'd be interested in hearing thoughts from other members of the Pagan community on these topics.

Witches, Pagans and Justice

<b>Murder Spell Case Goes to Trial</b>

The <a href="http://www.ktiv.com/global/story.asp?s=9675765">jury has been selected</a> for a case that made Pagans and Witches everywhere cringe. Larry Harris of Souix City, Iowa was arrested <a href="http://www.witchmoot.com/dawn.php/2008/01/28/how-do-you-spell-murder">last year</a> after the deaths of his two young step-daughters and torching of his home. He claimed a spell went bad. What concerns me about the jury selection, is that it seems that are no Wiccans, Witches, Pagans or Occultists in the jury.

The Defense attorney <i> went down a laundry list of items and asked if they believed in or used any of the following: Tarot cards, Ouija boards, Ghosts, Levitation, Voo doo, Black magic, Processions, Evil intervention or Séances.  Hardly anyone raised a hand for those.  But many did believe in: the power of prayer, Satan, demons, guardian angels, and divine intervention.  </i>
(Processions, what do they mean by that?)

The question of whether knowledge and beliefs in these areas would taint the jury one way or another is an interesting one. Sure, people who don't believe in the occult, but do believe in Christian ideas may be more likely to deem a person guilty because they believe he was dabbling in evil forces, or perhaps insane because he was dabbling in unreal or imaginary forces. It's unclear what the defense is going for here. It's too bad there aren't more Pagans on the jury, but I suppose it's the law of averages here. Many Pagans would say that he's crazy, that it's a cover up, that spells don't just go bad and kill folks, etc. But how do we know? I suppose it's possible. Either way if he was doing something dangerous, he shouldn't have been doing it around kids. If indeed the spell "went bad" and the kids died because of it, he is, at the very least, guilty of willfully endangering children!

Alot more information came out in <a href="http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2009/01/11/news/top/fb296762204669c98625753a00095315.txt">an interview with the mother</a> of the young victims. He'd been threatening her. He took blood from one of the girls to use in the ritual, her DNA was on the knife. He claimed he was possessed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81l%C4%AB">Kali</a>... the Destroyer, who was traditionally offered sacrifices of young children... If the girls had not died, he should still be brought to justice for cutting one of them if nothing else!

<b>Wiccan Inmate Seeks Release</b>

While we're on the subject of Pagan murderers, Randall Lee McArthur <a href="http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/south_73099___article.html/murder_killer.html">has been in prison for 25 years</a> for the murder of a young man whom he killed with the help of another man whose motive was apparently jealousy. (The other guy got five years). McArthur has also been in trouble for burglary and vandalism. But after 25 years he says he's grown up, found Goddess and ready to be released into the real world.

<i>A member of the state prison board, noting McArthur's references to Wicca along with Druidism, said some people view them as evil religions. McArthur was asked if he was discovering something different.
</i>

I can't speculate whether the man is rehabilitated, but I hope the fact that Mr McArthur is a Wiccan is not adversely affecting the parole board's opinion of him!

<b>Wiccan Inmates Lose Appeal for More Time</b>
<a href="http://iowaindependent.com/10388/three-hours-long-enough-for-prisoners-religious-observance">Three Wiccan inmates in Iowa</a> recently lost an appeal on their claim that three hours isn't enough time for a proper religious observance, specifically for Samhain.

Okay, folks, I know my Samhain parties take about five hours, but that includes dinner, socializing, etc. The actual ritual doesn't take more than an hour, hour and a half tops. Can we stop embarrassing ourselves by demanding more stuff than everyone else gets? Please.

<b>Debt Collector Hires Witch</b>

Luckily not everyone in my Pagan Justice roundup is guilty. A Lithuanian a debt collection firm has hired Vilija Lobaciuviene, a witch, to use magic not only to help bring in deadbeats, but also to provide spiritual healing and support for those suffering under the strains of debt. She will be doing this using hypnosis, herbal medicines and bio energy field work.

In a story by the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/01/15/2009-01-15_lithuanian_firm_hires_a_witch_to_hunt_de.html">NY Daily News</a>, there are entirely too many disrespectful quotes for me...

But whatever, Go Valija!

<b>No Justice for the Wicked Witch of the West</b>
And finally, <a href="http://www.ellwoodcityledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20241127&amp;BRD=2724&amp;PAG=461&amp;dept_id=563781&amp;rfi=6">fourth graders from Todd Elementary School</a> in Beaver, PA have declared Dorothy innocent of the murder of the Wicked Witch of the West, despite the fact that Dorothy went to the Witch's house with the intention of killing her. No word yet about an appeal.

Battle of the Beauty Queen

Here is the article I'm about to expound upon
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/297985

And now I begin.

So, basically, here's what happened. Ms. Canada Plus is a Wiccan (cool, huh, I thought so) and the Ms Toronto Tourism pageant invited her to be a judge. But when she submitted her bio, presumably for their marketing materials, she mentioned tarot cards under "hobbies" and they withdrew their invitation. (Which is very silly, because if they just looked at the Miss Canada Plus website, they would have seen her bio there, could have decided then, and would never have needed to embarrass themselves by issuing the invitation in the first place! http://www.mcpp.ca/candidates.html)

"We just got her bio a week ago and we don't agree with it," said Karen Murray, Miss Toronto Tourism pageant director. "We want someone down to earth, not someone into the dark side or the occult."

Grammatical nightmares not withstanding (How does someone not agree with a bio? A bio is not an opinion to be disagreed with.) How does Tarot cards make someone not down to earth? I dunno, there are a few headintheclouds Pagans, probably alot, but there are quite a few down to earth Pagans too. I like to think of myself as down-to-earth and I read Tarot cards. My atheist lover and I read each others cards before we go to bed at night. It helps us wrap up the day, put things in perspective and communicate with each other about the things that are on our minds and make plans. Very down-to-earth, practical stuff. And the "dark side of the occult"? If this lady thinks tarot cards are the "dark side" of the "occult", she doesn't know much about the occult, does she?

A letter to the Miss Candada Plus people said "We need a judge who has an upright reputation and we would be proud to introduce to the audience,"
It is my understanding that these pageants only award the Miss Somebody title to people who they feel is "upright" and has a clean reputation. It would seem that the Miss Toronto Tourism people do not think the Miss Candada Plus people are capable of determining who has a clean reputation, because they went on to explain:

"Our board of directors has eliminated her as a judge as tarot card reading and reiki are the occult and is not acceptable by God, Jews, Muslims or Christians. Tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists and mediums to consult the dark world."

The letter went on to quote a couple of passages from the Bible, including one from the book of Leviticus that warns, "Do not turn to mediums or seek out spirits for you will be defiled by them."

"We hope that Stephanie Conover will turn from these belief systems and will repent from her practice of them," the letter reads.

Now, this confuses me slightly, because we're talking about the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant, not the Miss Good Christian Pageant, so what's the deal here? The article is quick to point out that the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant is independant of Toronto's tourism department, and bully for Toronto then, because if it wasn't we'd be looking at a clear case of state-sponsored discrimination. As it stands Murray said her group doesn't get government funding and has the right to decide who acts as a judge in their pageant. and that's the truth.

What I don't understand is how the crazy Christian lady feels vindicated: Murray insisted Conover is "trying to stir up trouble" by raising the issue in the press. "She's obviously a very vindictive person," she said.
No lady, the public has a right to know that your pageant is discriminatory. Will you snatch the crown away from Miss Toronto Tourism when you discover that she reads Tarot cards? Since there is absolutely nothing about Miss Toronto Tourism that would cause someone to even suspect that someone into things Christians don't approve of would be automatically disqualified. I mean, check out the website, it doesn't say anywhere that you have to be a follower of an Abrahamic religion http://www.misstorontotourism.com/

Check it out

1. Canadian Citizen

2. Single, not married or living common-law

3. No dependents

4. Good health

5. No criminal records or criminal offences

6. Height of 5 feet and 0 inches and up

7. Good Will To Others

8. Good character

9. Born female.

10. 19 to 27 years of age.


Nowhere there does it say "Must adhere to the principles laid for by the God of Abraham."

What we have from Miss Conover is a public service.

If you're going to run a Christian pageant, call it that. But they're not religious says Murray:
Asked if her group is a religious one, Murray replied, "We adhere to God's principles. We're God-fearing. I wouldn't say we're religious." Isn't that a little contradictory, I dunno?

How do You Spell Murder

I've been pondering commenting on this for some time because it's really quite mindboggling. I've had some serious family issues to deal with lately and haven't had the time for mindboggling other peoples issues. But it deserves comment because most of the comments I hear about it from others are about as mindboggling as the event itself.
What event?
Well, you probably already heard about the Iowa murder of two young girls by their stepfather who claims that it was a spell gone wrong that led to their deaths. If not. Read about it here
http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/13561742.html
and more here http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=6953AF58-D8D7-AD22-3E898F48E4276659

Now, by all reports the man claims to be Pagan. But the comments garnered about the spell, the murder and what possible relation they could possibly have from a Pagan standpoint have been garnered from "experts" on Wicca.

Wicca? Why Wicca? Once again the world seems to think that Wicca=Pagan and Spell=Witchcraft=Wicca.
First off, there are many spells that are not Witchcraft, and much Witchcraft that is not Wicca. I suspect that this man was not Wiccan. Indeed, I suspect that IF there was a spell involved, it was not a Wiccan spell. He may indeed have been Pagan and the spell may have been Pagan, but when I look at a "spell that went bad" and I see two dead little girls at the hands of their supposedly loving stepfather, I think Goetia. I don't think Wicca. Granted, Goetia is NOT Pagan, but that is what makes it so dangerous to Pagan practitioners. But Wiccan magic is low magic, the evidence here supports High Magick. High Magick is a little more difficult, a little more dangerous and, in High Magick, it's a little easier to screw things up.

It sort of irritates me that Wicca has been implicated here. Wiccans are, now forgive me if I offend, as I do so in defense, a bunch of fluffballs who generally don't go around hurting people (except perhaps themselves). Wicca is annoying, perhaps misguided, but it is, for the most part harmless.

Here's more from the experts. http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/01/08/news/local/f1b72d9ec4df985c862573ca000e720e.txt Notice again that they focus on Wicca in exclusion of all other forms of Magick or Paganism.

Now that I have thoroughly pissed off the Wiccans, let me return once more to other forms of Magick that could, indeed, have produced these unfortunate results. Many Pagans experiment with different forms of magic besides witchcraft. When a Pagan dabbles in Magick that is not Pagan, he treads dangerous terretory. Goetia, for example, is an extremely dangerous magical art, for the Pagan. It is an Abrahamic art, said to have its roots with King Solomon himself (That is, King Solomon the wise of Old Testament fame.) The story goes that King Solomon, when offered a wish, wished for wisdom and it was granted. The story not often shared in Sunday School says that he was granted the wisdom to control djinn and demons and through their aid built a marvelous temple and a castle. The Goetia, or Lesser Key of Solomon is a book that professes to contain the means by which these demons are controlled and, theoretically, one can use the sacred words and symbols within to summon and control demons even today. Now the demons in question are under eternal damnation by God who created them and have power over them. The person who summons them, MUST be under the protection of the God of Abraham in order to maintain control over them. Obviously, a Pagan who attempts to summon these demons is going to have problems, because Pagans generally don't worship the God of Abraham, if we believe in Him at all, and therefore, have no business claiming His protection.

Now I can sense the collective eyerolling, even by the Magic-users among us and I must ask: Why, if you can believe in the Astral Plane, if you can use divination, if you can talk to the dead, elemental spirits, faeries, Gods and a host of other beings, if you can cast a spell for any purpose at all, would you write off the summoning and control of demons under an Abrahamic belief system as foolishness? Was not Wicca invented in the 50s? Even if you believe that it is remnants of the long past, you cannot argue that most of this past was lost so that we can only guess as to whether or not we have it right when we attempt to recreate the rituals. Yet they work. Don't they? Why, how? Doesn't matter. What matters is that it works. So the Goetia can only be reliably traced to the 17th, and questionably to the 16th century, it is based on an older belief system. There have been many who claimed it worked for them and many who claim terrible things happened to them because of it. It doesn't matter if the demons are real in the literal sense, what matters is that they are real in the mind of the practitioner.

Let us not linger on Goetia though, there are many other forms of magic that involve the summoning of potentially dangerous entities. The Necronomicron is one. Yes, I know it is a made up book, but really folks EVERYTHING is made up. It's the truth. If you summon entities and they are dangerous, and your Will is not as strong as yours, and you don't have any Divine assistance, there's a very good chance that they will either A. Do something you don't want them to do OR B. Force you to do something you wouldn't normally do.

Let us not forget the cardinal law of evocative magick. Do not evoke (or invoke) what you can't banish. If it were not a possibility, it wouldn't need to be mentioned.

Am I saying that Pagans can't do Goetia? Not at all. But unless you really understand it and you are confident that your Will is stronger than that of your summonee, you are playing with fire. That's all there is to it! And even if you are absolutely certain that your ducks are all in a row and your Will is bigger than your ego, never, never, ever summon a potentially dangerous entity (Pagan, Abrahamic or Make-believe) in the presence of children.


And that brings us back to the point. What spell could possibly lead to a man stabbing and strangling two children he had hitherto professed to love and leave a man in a state of surprise at the culmination of the affair? Not a Wiccan spell, that is for certain. I am willing to bet that if this man did kill those children with his own hands under the influence of a spell (and the possibility exists that there was no spell and he's just saying it), the man was ridden. Wiccans don't generally allow themselves to be ridden, particularly by potentially violent entities. What is amazing about this is that Wicca was brought into it at all. Unless, of course, he said he was Wiccan, which nothing says he did. Even his wife said "Pagan" not "Wiccan". That is the danger of Wiccans riding ahead brandishing their brooms in defense of all Pagans. Most Pagans are in fact not Wiccan, and don't resemble them in the slightest, but nobody will know that as long as they keep speaking up.

One of the tricky things about working with conscious and powerful entities, as opposed to your own or earth energy, is that you really have to be specific. Entities can be trixy and they don't necessarily like being bossed around. They are famous for taking ones words and twisting them to misfortune, there are many stories of djinn, for instance, granting wishes in ways the wisher wouldn't want. According to this article http://action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=7601645 the guy claims he was trying to help the girls through this spell. This reminds me of the story of Media, one of the most famous of the legendary Greek Sorceresses. She worked that her sons might never know suffering, and lo, they died. Well, a dead boy can't know suffering.

Unfortunately, we may never hear the actual details of this case. It is hidden behind sensationality and misinformation and, well, Wicca. If they would have only asked the man what spell, and reported it, I would have more answers. But alas, nobody asked me. They asked the "experts". And they asked them the wrong questions.

Further digging finds this http://www.ktiv.com/News/index.php?ID=21358
He kept a spellbook (which one, I wonder? Or did she mean a Book of Shadows?) and corresponded with the Church of Satan. Why again was Wicca even brought into this conversation???

And... if something was summoned that day. Something that got out of control... where is it now?

The War on Christmas and Discrimination

So last night I caught NBC's War on Christmas update.

I dunno. I don't have a TV, but I was in a waiting room and it was on. I can't remember what station it was. Anyway. I was a little perturbed because they were talking about Green Bay, Wisconsin and they did not mention once the pentacle issue there. (I can't find the clip on their website, though I found it last night and wrote them a letter about it too!)

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, apparently a few days ago Green Bay, Wisconsin's city council decided to put a nativity scene on top of the city hall, but the mayor said anybody else who wanted to add their own religious symbols to the display was invited to do so Circle Sanctuary, being local, stepped up and offered a pentacle wreath. It was added to the display and shortly thereafter taken down in the dead of night and destroyed by some random person who is, apparently, still at large. (The nativity is undamaged) Circle Sanctuary immediately moved to replace the pentacle but the city council then had another meeting and voted to retain the nativity but put a moratorium on any additional symbols.
You can find more details at http://www.circlesanctuary.org/gbpentacle/

So yea, NBC said, and I roughly quote "The nativity above city hall in Green Bay Wisconsin will stay because the city council voted tonight to keep it there." With NO mention whatsoever that they voted at the same time NOT to allow anything else until further discussion. So they had a meeting last night (while the news was being broadcast) and I'm not sure of the results of that. According to what I've read, it was just a bunch of people voicing their opinions and no decisions were made. Whatever all that, the nativity remains above the entrance to city hall, under which anyone who goes there for any sort of business is forced to walk (and be slapped in the face with how they are abnormal if they don't revere it) and no additional symbols have been put up. So, of course, the Americans United for Separation of Church and State jumped in the fray and there's now a lawsuit pending.
Damn.

It's really rediculous how these things happen. I bet it will be reported by the mainstream media as "Green Bay Wisconsin forced to remove Nativity or face lawsuit" rather than "Green Bay Wisconsin mayor faces lawsuit for showing preferential treatment toward the majority religion."

Honestly though, I don't think the Mayor and the City Council mean to be assholes. I think they acted hastily and should have had all these meetings before they started putting up religious symbols. They admit as much themselves in the stories if you read them closely. They said "Hey, we're going to let people put whatever they want up." and didn't set down any guidelines for it. So the question arises, what if other religions want to put up displays for other times of the year?

I found this discussion about the subject http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread321668/pg1
Fellow Pagan blogger at the Wild Hunt http://www.wildhunt.org/blog.html has also been following this issue.

Of course, this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened. It just so happened that Circle Sanctuary was involved this time and Rev. Selena Fox & Co. are media whores. They make sure everyone knows what goes on with them- to their credit and often to the benefit of Paganism as a whole. (They were deeply involved in the quests to allow Pentacles on gravestones in military cemetaries). A smilar incident took place earlier this month in New York.

I am really tired of hearing about the war on Christmas. There is no war on Christmas, it's a war against religous hegemony. The reality is that many of the symbols people associate with Christmas and many of the traditions people associate with Christmas are Pagan or secular. They've been around since before the birth of Christ. They have been observed independant of as well as alongside Christianity for centuries, and they are enjoying a resurgance under the new Pagan movement. The tree is not JUST a Christmas tree, it is also a Yule tree, or a Solstice tree. Nobody insists on calling it that in the public eye. We are happy to call it a Holiday tree so as to include Christinity in the tradition, even though the trees have nothing. NOTATHING to do with Christianity, Christ or the observance of the birth of Christ. Some of the very religions that are screaming now once condemned Christmas as a Pagan holiday. I don't care if polititions talk about opening gifts on Christmas morning, because that's what they do. They don't have to call them Holiday presents if they're Christmas presents. I don't call my Yule gifts Holiday presents. I call them Yule gifts if they're for the Pagan folks, and Christmas gifts if they're for the Christian folks, and Holiday gifts if I don't know. It's just common courtesy not to make assumptions. You know.

Ergh. I'm ranting again. I'll stop now.

Marshall University Recognizes Pagan Holidays

This is odd to me, actually. I mean it's good, but it's odd. Now, I'm a Pagan and I work at a University. (everyone here knows I'm Pagan) and I went to school at this same University. And I transferred from a two-year college before that. And I never went to class or worked on a Pagan holiday.
Well, maybe that's not exactly true.
Quite often I would, but we had observances planned for the weekend, so the day itself just went by and the weekend was the big deal. But I usually took that Friday off, or at least a half day.
This year I took Halloween off. Sometimes I take the whole week.
I just say, "Hey, it's a holiday in my faith, and I'm taking it off." and they say "Okay."
Nobody has ever argued.
I have never been penalized. But I also volunteer to work on those days that other people don't want to work due to their faith practices.

But now at Marshall University, it's official.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/us/04pagan.html?em&ex=1194325200&en=7566bb98cd0ad34f&ei=5087%0A

I wonder if other schools will follow suit.
I wonder if they should. Why should Pagans be singled out? Why not say "Hey, nobody can be penalized for missing a day for religious observances (Provided of course they make up the work)."

My school.. Now I love my school. Last year we had an irate parent write in about the fact that we're not closed for Good Friday or that Holy Monday or whatever it's called. Sometimes our Spring Break covers it, which I'm sure they're all very happy about, but not always. Our President wrote her back, and I loved him. He said that in order that the University should not show preferential treatment, "We do not close for ANY religious holiday." and it's true. Yes, Christmas happens to fall between semesters, but that's not closing for a holiday. That's a break between semesters. And Yule usually falls into it too, and Kwanzaa, and sometimes Hannukah, or at least a portion of Hannukah.

So yea. Whatever. I think it's great. But I also think it's silly to finger out a single religion and say "We're not going to discriminate against you." Great. Wonderful. You shouldn't discriminate against anyone. And now you've shown us preferential treatment, which is sort of discriminatory in and of itself. Isn't it?

Saving Sherwood Forest

I think it's sad that Sherwood forest of legend has shrunk to a mere fraction of its old size. Down from 100,000 acres to 450. Wow. But, I'm not surprised. It seems these things are inevitable. Lucky for Sherwood forest, 15 organizations in England are banding together to save it and its ancient oak trees.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071104/ap_on_re_eu/shrinking_sherwood

It's good news for Sherwood Forest. It pays to be famous, I suppose. There are many forests shrinking to nothing all over the world. I won't step on my urban sprawl soapbox. I'll just baby the pathetic half acre of woods in suburbia I have been given sacred charge of. Every little bit helps.

So let's raise a glass to Sherwood forest and its caretakers. May the Gods keep them.
And maybe we should get Bunky over there to cast a little lottery spell for 'em.