Merry Meet

A coven of witches in England rented out a hall for a Halloween ball. Then they were kicked out. It might sound discriminatory, until you learn that the hall they rented was parish property. (View the original source here at the Telegraph.)

Because of obvious differences in their belief systems, this seems to be a no-brainer. But what gives the witches the right to claim persecution? After all, isn’t it a bit odd that they’d rent a church hall to begin with? If anything, this story would be more controversial if the church HAD allowed them to keep the space.

The church is its own institution and has its own property. I don’t think it’s discriminatory if they give priority to members of their church (just like having a wedding in a church is less expensive for church members, who also have priority on dates) or if they decide not to support a social celebration of a religion that they feel conflicts with their beliefs.

I don’t necessarily agree with church principles in general, but they have a right to have them–and by claiming persecution here, this coven is actually infringing upon the church’s right to make its own choices. Continue Reading »

Going back to past discussions about ‘fluffy pagans’ and reconstructionism, I’m thinking of paganism in a more removed, academic way. While it’s completely impossible for me (or most people) to be objective about religion, it’s interesting to note that some make an extreme point to convey accuracy in ritual.

Recently, I spoke to a Catholic friend. While we have many religious differences, we both agree that the character of our traditions somehow feel more valid simply because they are old. Something as simple as thanking a deity for food or communion of any sort seems to feel more comfortable since it has been done for thousands of years. Continue Reading »

I wanted to take a moment to highlight an excellent resource and some of its recent content. The Witches’ Voice is a powerful, user-driven, user-sponsored web site allowing users to learn about pagan paths, find pagan businesses, and connect with others in their area.

This site allows users to choose who contacts them (individuals, businesses) and divides content into sections, my favorite being essays. Continue Reading »

A few years ago, I was working out at Curves. Someone then told me that Curves is owned by a right-wing pro-life activist couple, and that the whole Curves spiel about the empowerment of women was pretty much null and void considering the owners were pro-life. I was also urged to cancel my membership.

While I agree with the pro-choice sentiment, I’m not sure if I agree with the rest. Should I really cancel a membership at a gym just because the gym owners happen to spend their legally-earned money on something with which I disagree?

Really, how many drugs did The Beatles consume during their time in the band? Who do you think paid for the habit? Every fan that bought a record, whether they were into drugs or not. Does that make each fan responsible for The Beatles’ drug use? What if it had resulted in the death of one of them? After thinking about it that way, I decided to continue my membership at Curves.

Today I heard about a Catholic institution thrown into controversy by a pro-choice politician and president–Barack Obama.  Some do not want to hear Obama speak because he is pro-choice. In other words, his position on one issue, to them, invalidates his worthiness to address a graduating class. Continue Reading »

When I went to watch the new Star Trek movie last night, I was there as a major fan of Trek! My secondary concern involved watching the costumes so I could post on Star Trek costumes for my other blog. As wonderful as the movie was, I did not consider it a specifically spiritual experience–until I noticed a detail on a Vulcan costume–something very much akin to our very own beloved triple moon (right). Please read on–no spoilers below. Continue Reading »

An article on CNN.com posted today reports that many Americans are not losing religion, but changing it. The article implies that many of these changes might be within one belief system–i.e., a Christian protestant moving from one sect of Christianity to another. However, this is something I have also noticed consistently among pagans, including myself.

When I started researching paganism, I thought that I was destined to be a Celtic Reconstructionist, but that just isn’t so. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m not as interested in reliving exactly what Celts may have done so much as I am in living with that Celtic spirit, or the core of that belief system, in mind–whether you think it’s fluffy or not!

Among my Christian friends in more religious places such as Michigan and Virginia, I’ve watched the struggle many face when wanting to join a community without giving up any of their own beliefs or ethics. I had the opportunity to witness my friend Michelle and her husband Ben explore are more open-minded church community. As straight allies of the gay community, locating a gay-affirming church in conservative Lynchburg, Virginia was important to them. Continue Reading »

Happy Earth Day, readers!

I’d like to discuss environmentalism and paganism today. Do you think they are connected?

Opinions on this topic seems to vary.

I’ve been accused of being a ‘fluffy pagan’ before because I feel like I have a spiritual responsibility to at least be decent to the environment; for over a decade, this included my desire to maintain a vegetarian diet. This is actually one reason why I have always said I have a Celtic path, but am not necessarily a Celtic Reconstructionist. Continue Reading »

Hello, faithful readers! I just wanted to announce a few changes that will be occurring on this blog. This blog will still remain up, available, and active, but as you have noticed, I will not be posting every day. My new goal is to make a comprehensive weekly post. Among other projects, this blog is and was intended to bolster my freelance career. Now that I’m obtaining more substantial freelance projects, I am unable to update daily without sacrificing quality of content. Therefore, I’ve decided not to sacrifice quality, and to simply post less frequently.Readers of The Costumer (my other blog) will be happy to learn that the same applies to that blog as well. I also still blog weekly over at LARPers.

The second change is the use of Entrecard. I will no longer be using Entrecard after April 7th, due to guideline changes and marketing strategy.

Thanks!

~Tara, AKA The Costumer

A friend and fellow blogger over at Athiest News shared an interesting snippet of news about Catholic bishops banning the practice of Japanese reiki (original story from BBC here).

After hearing many non-Catholic Christians here in the United States bash and blame Catholicism for being archaic and even anti-Christian, I found this news about reiki particularly interesting. Many Protestants as well as non-Christians criticize Catholicism for being overly-superstitious, taking issue with Continue Reading »

According to recent survey findings reported by CNN, there are less people identifying themselves as Christian in America. The findings seem to indicate that more people are falling away from what is called ‘mainstream Christianity,’ though there is an increasing number of evangelicals.

In the article, Lou Dobbs speculates that this is due to individualist feelings stirred and promoted in the last century. While this does make sense, it seems to me as though some people are abandoning traditional Christianity Continue Reading »

I always get excited when I hear about the Ghost Hunters visiting a local haunt (pun totally intended) of mine. NBC Philadelphia is reporting that the Ghost Hunters have visited the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia.

The show will air on Wednesday, March 11. Check it out!

On March 17th, many Irish and people of Irish descent celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Like anything both religious and Irish, there’s bound to be controversy surrounding the holiday, and talk about St. Patrick’s day in pagan communities is no exception.

In my opinion, Irish heritage is rich for several reasons. Primary among those reasons is that Irish culture is a true blend of politics, religion, the arts, history, spirituality, and mythology all blended together. I believe it’s a fact that religions in Ireland have blended together, and that Irish Catholicism is very distinct. Continue Reading »