About.com Paganism / Wiccan

Indian Court Strikes Down Ban on Homosexuality

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:56:25 +0000

From over at Religion Clause comes a report that a high court in Delhi, India, has struck down as unconstitutional a ban on homosexual sexual acts performed in private between consenting adults. The court concluded that the ban infringes upon the right to privacy guaranteed by other sections of the Indian Constitution.

The law in question, 377 IPC, was enacted in the nineteenth century, when India was a colony under British rule. Recently, it was challenged by a group working towards HIV/AIDS education. Of particular note is the following statement made in the court opinion: Section 377 IPC is based upon traditional Judeo-Christian moral and ethical standards, which conceive of sex in purely functional terms, i.e., for the purpose of procreation only. Any non-procreative sexual activity is thus viewed as being "against the order of nature�. The submission is that the legislation criminalising consensual oral and anal sex is outdated and has no place in modern society.

In other words, trying to legislate private acts by invoking morality clauses just doesn't cut it in the Indian high court. It will be interesting to see if this sets a precedent in other countries that claim to be far more progressive.

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Giant Goddess to be Carved Into Hillside

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:46:22 +0000

More often than not, when I post news stories about a mining company on this blog, it's nearly always in reference to someone who wants to destroy the earth with no regard or reverence whatsoever for the landscape. So when I saw this story out of Northumberland, I have to admit it made me smile.

The Shotton open-cast coal mine opened earlier this year, and rather than just dumping all the excavated dirt in a heap, they've decided to do something good with it. An artist has been commissioned to design a giant goddess statue to be created in the nearby hillside, forming the centerpiece of a new public park.

Local opinion is mixed - some folks say the goddess is a great idea, others pooh-pooh it as a publicity stunt and unecessary waste of money. The park development will cost about 2.5m pounds, and work should begin next year.

What do you think? If you lived nearby, would you want a 400-foot naked goddess peeking at you when you drove down the A1? It's certainly got to be better than some of the things I see when I'm cruising along my local freeway. Seriously, though, I think it's a nice idea. It's aesthetically pleasing, and it serves a purpose that will benefit the local community, so everyone wins.

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Pagan Stuff Sells Newpapers

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:37:27 +0000

So there's a murder trial going on in England right now, which a woman named Arizona Devine Watterson is accused of killing a man named Billy Rogers. The defendant claims it's an accident, the prosecution says she's lying and that it was premeditated. At any rate, it's interesting to read the coverage of the story, because what's being focused on is not her defense or the testimony of witnesses. No, what makes the story newsworthy is ZOMG SHE USED A PAGAN DAGGER!

You actually have to read halfway through the article before you get to anything remotely connected to witnesses other than the lady who sold Watterson the athame. I'm curious, if she had whacked him with a baseball bat instead, would the lead paragraphs be ZOMG ITS A LOUISVILLE SLUGGER instead? Clearly, it's a really slow news week over in the Isle of Man.

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School Files Appeal on NA Boy's Hair

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:20:23 +0000

We've talked periodically about little Adriel Arocha, a Native American kindergartener in Texas. Adriel wanted to keep his hair long, because his family says it's part of their spiritual beliefs. Although the school segregated him for most of the kindergarten year and had him taught in an In-School Suspension setting (yeah, in kindergarten!), back in January a Federal judge ruled that administrators could not force him to cut his hair.

Now, the Needville Independent School District has filed an appeal on the case, saying that the "judge�s ruling �hijacked� the district�s authority to �regulate its population.� Superintendant Curtis Rhodes believes Adriel's father, Kenney Arocha, has worn his hair long for more than a decade because of �personal choice� rather than religious conviction. Apparently, during the January hearings, Rhodes complained that Arocha was "unable to provide him with "written evidence of their beliefs, a religion that could be researched or a tribal affiliation.�

Um, hello? Since when do all religious belief systems even have written evidence of anything? The family is Native American. They don't have a great big book o' rules like the Big Three, and the problem is that Rhodes and his supporters are viewing all spiritual paths through the Dominant Religion Lens. The judge in the case, Keith Ellision, ruled that it didn't matter if there was written evidence of the belief system existing, but that what was key was that "Plaintiff Arocha is only required to show that he himself has these �deeply held religious beliefs,� which he has done."

Now the school district has filed an appeal arguing that Arocha's hair length is not a matter of spiritual belief at all, but of personal choice. The appeal claims that Ellision "erred in ruling the application of the Needville ISD�s grooming code violated Adriel�s freedom of religious exercise and freedom of speech."

So here's the big question. Are one's religious beliefs no longer valid if they cannot be documented under public scrutiny? Who gets to decide whether a religion is a valid one or not? In modern Paganism, we have many people who follow an eclectic blend of spiritual traditions. Many others follow a family-based system. Even among those who claim the same "label," there is still a lot of room for wiggling - not all Wiccans agree on every principle, nor every Druid or Asatruar. For many of us, the only documentation is what we ourselves have compiled. In the case of the Arocha family, does it matter that there is no specific documentation of their Native American beliefs, as long as they believe those things to be sacred? It's clear that Curtis Rhodes thinks he's entitled to make the call, so I'll be interested to see if a Federal appeals court agrees with him.

And really, how culturally insensitive is it to use the phrase "regulate our population" when referring to someone who's part of a minority group?

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Wordless Wednesday: First Harvest

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:27:32 +0000

Image � Patti Wigington 2009

More Wordless Wednesday photos at About.com and the Wordless Wednesday Home Blog.

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Reader FAQ: Warrior Pagans

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:42:59 +0000

Many Pagans serve in the Armed Forces.
� Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A reader writes in, "I attended a Pagan festival not too long ago, and I was shocked by how many people there consider themselves "warriors." I even met a bunch of men (and a woman) who are in the military - one of them had just come back from the Middle East, and another was getting ready to go over there. I was really uncomfortable around this group - how can any self-respecting Pagan have the "warrior mentality" when we're all supposed to be peace-loving people who do no harm to others?"

Wow. First of all, you're making an awful lot of assumptions about the belief systems of others. You're also using a pretty broad brush to paint everyone with here.

Second, I'm amazed that you were "uncomfortable" around a group of men and women who have pledged to sacrifice their lives should it be necessary, in order to prevent others from having to do so. Finally, you use the term "supposed to be," but we really don't have a Big List o' Pagan Rules that is universal to every single Pagan -- which is part of what draws people to Paganism in the first place. At any rate, I've put together a detailed response to your question here: Warrior Pagans.

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Religion and Tattoos

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:40:30 +0000

An interesting piece popped up in the Evansville Courier Press this weekend, discussing the different ways that religious groups look at body art, such as tattoos. Reporter Karen Owen-Phelps interviews people from a variety of Christian backgrounds to see how they view tattoos, and the responses vary from "I'm really proud of it" to "I'm so ashamed that I did it." One pastor from a Seventh-Day Adventist church says, "The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and we shouldn't defile it."

Although Owen-Phelps briefly touches on Judaism and Islam, there's no mention at all made of any other religious groups. It would have been a nice contrast if she had taken the time to interview people from non-mainstream religions, because for many of us, our body may be a temple, but it's also an art gallery. Go to any Pagan event, and you'll see a lot of tattoos, not so much because tattoos are part of our spirituality, but because we believe everyone is free to make their own choices.

By the way, if you want to see some of the tattoo art that our readers have submitted, be sure to check out the recently updated Pagan Tattoo Gallery.

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Summer Project: Make a Rain Barrel

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:26:38 +0000

A rain barrel can help you collect water
� Patti Wigington 2009

For many Pagans and Wiccans, reverence for the earth and its resources is an important part of the spiritual journey. This is one of the reasons that so many of us are involved in ecologically impactful issues. One way to have a positive influence on our environment is to find ways to conserve our resources. Many of us are recycling, using green materials, or cutting back on energy consumption.

A few weeks ago, I was shopping in a Very Big Chain Home Improvement Store, and saw rain barrels on sale for upwards of $150. I've always wanted a rain barrel, but that seemed like a pretty steep price to pay - especially for an avid do-it-yourselfer like me. So with a salvaged food-grade barrel I found on Craigslist, about $5 worth of fittings I got at the store, and a few scrap bits of PVC pipe, I made my own. It's finally finished, and it was extremely easy to build - about an hour's worth of work. I've set it up to collect rain straight from my house's downspout, so nothing will get wasted. Here's how you can build one of your own: Make a Rain Barrel.

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Reader FAQ: How Do I Know it's a Deity?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:13:09 +0000

A reader writes in with a not-uncommon question: She asks, "There's been some weird stuff going on in my life, and I'm beginning to notice things happening that make me think a god or goddess is trying to contact me. How do I know that this is the case, and that it's not just my brain making things up?"

An excellent question indeed. For those of us who have been tapped by the Divine, there is indeed a period where we find ourselves wondering if we're just imagining it all. It can often lead to speculation and self-doubt: "Are you there, Artemis? It's me, Margaret."

However, one way to relieve the questioning -- and reassure yourself that you are not, in fact, going nuts -- is to do a little research. Don't just rely on intuition. Use common sense as well. Here are some tips on what to look for: How Do I Know if a Deity Is Calling Me?

Want to share your story about an encounter with the gods? Be sure to visit our Readers Respond page and tell us what happened!

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June 27: Birthday of Scott Cunningham

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:21:29 +0000

Today would have been the 53rd birthday of the late Scott Cunningham, and Llewellyn Publishing is announcing the release of a collection of previously unpublished work. The manuscript is based upon a book of shadows found in Cunningham's personal belongings by longtime friend DiTraci Regula. The manuscript, which was entitled "American Traditionalist Book of Shadows," is based upon Cunningham's own tradition, and will be released in the fall.

Also, in Cunningham's honor, Llewellyn has created a Fan Page over on Facebook, where you can subscribe for updates.

Scott was the author of a number of extremely popular books on modern Wicca and Paganism, most of which are still in print and selling today. Perhaps his most enduring work is Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. While it's not traditional, initiatory Wicca, it did lay the framework for many of the solitary practitioners who follow a Pagan path today.

Scott Cunningham died at the age of 36 following a decade-long illness. Fifteen years after his death, his body of work lives on as his legacy in the Wiccan and Pagan community.

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