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| Gold Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol 1962 |
Last November, with help from the Covenant of the Goddess, I
again attended the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San
Antonio. (This year the meeting
will be in Boston.)
If you’ve read any of my other posts about these annual
meetings, you know that in addition to the Pagan Studies Section, I attend
other sessions on other topics when they don’t conflict with Pagan Studies
sessions. This year was no
different.
Kerry Noonan and I shared a room, where I listened to her
rehearse her paper, sans Power Point. It interested me, as did some of the
other papers in that session. One
can always learn from other religions.
Not necessarily theology, faith, or belief; rather organizations and
methods, successes and mistakes, things we may wish to emulate
(organization-wise) and those we should avoid. We also learn what I call “sacred technology,” by which I
mean such things as visualization, meditation, chanting, breathwork, dancing,
liturgical skills.
So the first session I attended was that of the Roman
Catholic Studies Group, entitled
Ex-Catholics:
Thresholds of Catholic Identity and Defiance. According to a Pew survey, Catholicism … has been losing
adherents, mostly to the secular, … but also due to relevance.
«
Nicholas
Rademacher – “Rethinking Resistance:
Varieties of Dissent and Patterns of Solidarity among U.S. Catholics.” Many observers gloss over differences
among dissenting Catholics of the mid to late twentieth century, collapsing a
diverse movement into a seeming homogeneous group. Even the radicals themselves perpetuated an impression of
homogeneity in order to present a united front to the public eye. While many dissenters at mid-century
promoted similar ideas about racial and economic justice, pacifism, and a more egalitarian
ecclesiology, they traveled different paths and even corrected one another from
time to time. Yet they rarely if
ever publicly reproached one another.
A closer look at the internal conversation of the period by way of diary
accounts, correspondence, and the public record reveals important distinctions
and even disagreements among and between those who dissented within and against
the Roman Catholic Church on social justice themes.
We’ve long included many, many ‘recovering Catholics’ in our
Pagan communities, along with Jewitches, Buddheo-Pagans, Quagans, and
Atheo-Pagans. Some Pagans design
rituals that have been influenced by Catholic ritual, not to mention the
liberal use of frankincense and myrrh in our workings.[1] Some Pagan organizations go so far as
to mimic Roman Catholic hierarchy, assuming such titles as Reverend and Right
Reverend, wearing [green or purple] Roman collars, and employing fractured
Elizabethan English. Not my
personal cup of tea, but if using these methods aids practitioners to achieve a
more spiritually receptive state and feel more compassionate toward and bonded
with their co-practitioners, more power to them.
Dr. Rademacher spoke of “defecting in place,” citing
Catholics working for social justice causes. Among them, Dorothy Day, Daniel Berrigan and
his brother Phillip,
the latter’s wife and former nun, Elizabeth McAlister,
Thomas Merton, and
Mary Elizabeth Walsh. These people
interpreted church teachings as a living gospel calling for activism in pursuit
of a better world. From the
presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt forward, they sought to foster solidarity
within the social justice movement.
They saw priests moving into middle class privilege, while they instead
worked in the Bowery, established settlement houses, participated in hunger and
peace marches, and in general chose to live with and among marginalized people
instead of returning to middle class comfort.
«
Kori
Pacyniak – “Ex-Catholics: Exile or Exodus in the Borderlands of the
Church.” As numbers of “former”
or” ex” Catholics increase, various questions remain. Why do some leave while others remain and work for change
within.
Ms. Pacyniak, whose studies focus on queer theology, trans
theology, and trauma theology, spoke of liminal overlapping space. Many LGBTQIA Catholics leave their
place of origin to find a more accepting space and a better life. They seek these demilitarized places
where they are both inside and outside, “both me and not me.” These borderlands as places of
“becoming.” She also stressed the
distinction between the exodus where one has agency, as opposed to
excommunication which is not of one’s doing.
Often these dissenting Catholics find a welcoming home and a
more relevant and satisfying religious practice within Pagan communities.
«
Meredith
Massar Munson – “All That Glitters Is
Not Gold: Andy Warhol’s Byzantine Icon, Gold Marilyn Monroe.” When did celebrity become iconic? Born of devout Byzantine-Ruthenian
immigrants in Pittsburgh, Andy Warhol spent his childhood in the rich visual
culture of the Byzantine Catholic tradition. His 1962 painting, Gold Marilyn Monroe, has been casually
associated with Byzantine icons since its creation. However, scholars have not gone beyond the canvas’s gilded
visage to explore the extremely provocative connotations that such a connection
might actually hold. An
investigation of the artist’s personal Byzantine-Catholic history posits this
painting as directly indebted to the long-standing icon tradition, and
furthermore, as intrinsically connected to the acheiropoieta, [made
without hands] the image not by human hands. Warhol’s iconic painting opens the door for a cultural
critique that compares and contrasts fame and exploitation. This paper will endeavor to place Gold
Marilyn within the much larger dialogue concerning the role of the icon,
bridging the gap between the secular and the spiritual.
I had never heard of Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholicism
before. I was aware that Andy Warhol was Catholic,
but I knew neither its particular flavor nor its prominence/importance in his
life. He attended Mass daily.
My interest in this talk was the examination of pop icons in
light of the fact that many Pagans are idolaters or use iconic images as
objects of reverence and/or for focused meditation. Not all, of course, but many. It is not uncommon to see on an altar a Wonder Woman action
figure or a little Batman doll or some other object marketed as a toy.
We have our own versions of the Catholic Marian cults, such
as the Ord Brighideach
International, to which I belong, and the Covenant of Hekate. Moreover, there are numerous orders,
sisterhoods, and fellowships dedicated to the worship of specific deities. Further, I know there are people,
Pagans and cowans alike, who maintain special areas of their homes dedicated to
Marilyn Monroe herself. The
painting called Gold Marilyn Monroe, created by the “pope of pop,” exemplifies this
appreciation of graven images.
«
Kerry
Noonan – “’I’m Going to Try Reiki
Next, and I’m Not Going to Confession!’ Negotiating Vernacular Catholicism.” In a guided meditation in a yoga
studio, a conservative Catholic woman listens to the messages channeled by a
psychic teacher -– messages from deceased loved ones, archangels, the Virgin
Mary. She’s not a “fallen-away”
Catholic, nor a New Ager; Catholicism is part of her identity, and she works to
integrate these new practices into an identity that eschews them. Employing Leonard Primiano’s concept of
“vernacular religion,” I aim to
better understand her and others like her who, while seeking direct and
embodied experiences of the Divine, incorporate new practices and place them in
familiar Catholic contexts. In
light of Catherine Albanese’s assertion that Americans have practiced
“combinative” religion for centuries, and Robert Orsi’s contention that
religious traditions are “zones of improvisation and conflict,” I explore the
possibility that we can see this woman not as an orthodox outlier, but as
emblematic of important trends in the American religious landscape.
This process of syncretism is a fairly common phenomenon
among Pagan religions, Witchcraft in particular. We often learn meditative techniques from Asian religions
rhat may enhance our own. Tibetan
Buddhism employs the use of yantras as foci for visualization. We also sing Hindu chants, purported Native American chants
of various kinds, and chants from Voudoun. We borrow rhythms.
We dance English, French, and Basque folk dances.
Contemporary Pagan Studies Group(1)
Modernity and Postmodernity: Pagans Reimagining the
Future. Modern Pagan movements still struggle with identity and
history, especially when former “historical” and ideological foundations are
challenged by new interpretations or others’ voice. Participants will
present summaries of their papers and discuss with each other and the audience
issues of history, identity and ethnicity across boundaries, and the pressures
of institutionalization.
Sabina
Magliocco presided and Amy
Hale responded to the following speakers;
«
Barbara
Jane Davy — "Reconstruction Alternatives: Wicked Dilemmas for
Contemporary Pagan Responses to Modernity." (description too long to
type)
«
Stephen
Quilley — "Reconstruction Alternatives: Wicked Dilemmas for
Contemporary Pagan Responses to Modernity." (description too long to
type)
«
Thomas
Berendt — "Postmodern Paganisms: Embracing Polytheitic
Plurality, Diversity, and Hybridity.” (description too long to type)
«
Christopher W. Chase — "Differential Modernities:
Rethinking Vodou in Contemporary Paganism." “…contends that
Pagan traditions respond to modernity according to sociohistorically contingent
circumstances. As an example, Vodou has developed a Christian ecclesia model in
Haiti in response to Pentecostalism, while tracking along a decentralized
initiatory path in the U.S., similar to other Pagan traditions.
As you can tell from these descriptions, we Pagans are
protean in our tendency to evolve and change.
I apologize for the skimpiness of commentary on the Pagan
Studies sessions. In the two years
since I suffered a stroke, I have not fully regained my ability to handwrite,
so my notes are minimal and often indecipherable. Fortunately, Christine Hoff Kraemer shares a thorough report
of her experience of this event on The
Wild Hunt.
Contemporary Pagan Studies Group(2)
Dilemmas of Identity
and Formation in Contemporary Paganism: Tropes of anti-modernism and primitivism inform the
development of contemporary Pagan movements, yet these groups are sometimes
described as postmodern as well.”
Papers and discussion of “whether the central tenets of postmodernism –
plurality, diversity, and hybridity – chiefly influence such movements today or
whether protests against modernity and reconstructions of fictive pre-modern
societies and world views drive them equally.
Jone
Salomonsen presided and Shawn
Arthur responded to the following speakers:
«
Gwendolyn Reece – “The
Scalability Crisis: Contemporary Paganism and Institutionalization.” “…argues that one of the primary
driving forces behind the trend towards institutionalization in Contemporary
Paganisjm … (description too long to type)
This paper specifically speaks of the dilemmas we, as a fast-growing
constellation of Nature-based and/or heritage-based, and related non-Abrahamic
religious groups, confront when trying to create institutions that address our
professional needs from a less conventional and, given our great diversity,
from a somewhat Pagan perspective.
This has been the work of Cherry Hill Seminary, among other worthy
efforts.
«
Patricia
E’Iolana -- “An Imagined and Idealised [sic] Past as a Source for Revisionist Rhetoric:
The Dual Lives of the 1921 Murray Thesis.” (description too long to type)
«
Lee
Gilmore – “Pagan and Indigenous
Communities at the Parliament (Part 2): The Myth of the Unbroken Line in
Constructions of Authenticity.” (description too long to type)
«
Leigh Ann
Hildebrand – “Jews (and Jewitches)
Touching Trees: Hybrid Jewish/Pagan Identity, Ritual Practice, and Belief.”
(description too long to type)
The phenomenon of Jewitches has long been a facet of the
Craft. About twenty years ago
Jewitches in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) published a newsletter call
Di Shmatteh (the rag). Since then, various blends or dual
perspectives have arisen:
Buddheo-Pagan, Quagan, Atheo-Pagan, and even Christo-Pagan. As a person reared in Christianity, both
Protestant and Catholic, I don’t get this last one, but then again, it’s not
mine to get.
The work of scholars and supporters at Cherry Hill Seminary is one
manifestation of the expression of these issues of legitimacy, identity, and
sustainability. In fact, one of
the older and still extant Pagan organizations, the Covenant of the Goddess, in its annual
Leadership Institute, has recently done in a daylong focus on examining the
current state of the Craft and Paganism, and locating CoG’s place in that
larger community and in the world.
Native Traditions in the Americas Group
Indigenous Religious
Hybridity and the Transformation of Traditions: This session addresses different forms of religious
hybridity. Zitkala-Sa, or Gertrude
Simmons Bonin, was an important Dakota leader who drew from her own cultural
traditions as well as her education in boarding schools to publish at the
national level and serve as an agent of the government. Patron Saint Feast Days incorporate
from and negotiate between indigenous and Christian practices. Research on the Ohlone Shell Walk
illustrates the revitalization of traditions while highlighting the
relationship between religious and political activity.
«
Abel
Gomez -- “Shellmound Peace Walk:
Prayer, Pilgrimage, and Activism in Ohlone Territory” Ohlone communities of
the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas are experiencing a cultural renewal,
despite their non-recognized status.
Central to this revival is the protection of burial sites, most of which
have been destroyed because of urban development. This paper focuses on Ohlone activist Corrina Gould’s
efforts to honor the burial place of her ancestors through Shellmound Peace
Walks. Beginning in 2005, Gould
has organized three-week long pilgrimages to the shellmounds (burial sites) of
her ancestors. At each stop, participants
heard stories of the site and offered prayers and tobacco. Drawing on fieldwork, historical
writings, and oral histories, I argue that the Shellmound Peace Walks
demonstrate the interconnectivity of religion and political activism in Native
communities. For Ohlone solidarity
with non-Native people.
I was initially drawn to this section because I saw that
Abel Gomez was one of the presenters.
He is a young man from the S.F Bay Area I’ve met through local
Reclaiming.
Another draw was the fact that the topic is about a region I
call home. Much of the southern
Baylands and the land on the other side of SF Bay from where I write is home to
Ohlone people. My neighboring county to the north is Coast
Miwok country.[2] There are 425 shellmounds
in the salt marshes and mudflats around San Francisco Bay and beyond (San Pablo
Bay, Suisun Bay, Carquinez Strait).
Over the time since Europeans settled this area, the
largest, once a burial ground rising 60 feet high and dating back to 800 BCE,
has been desecrated by being used for an amusement park and later as a dumping
ground for toxic chemicals. Since
1999 a shopping center occupies most of that shellmound, with a memorial park
nearby, now designated Emeryville Shellmound,
California Historical Landmark #335.
From time to time I have received email posts soliciting
people to attend these peace walks.
I appreciated hearing this more detailed information about these
activities. Abel’s contention of
the interconnectivity of Native religions and political activism matches my own
convictions.
I have attended public Witchen sabbat celebrations at the
Emeryville Shellmounds. From that
spot one can see beautiful sunsets behind some of the land surrounding the
Bay. I like to think that, rather
than using the site as a dumping ground, by performing our sabbats on what is
left of this formerly 60-foot high mound, we in some small way honor the
ancestors of our Ohlone neighbors.
«
“Boundaries in the Borderlands: Pueblo Indian
Patron Saint Feast Days and the Negotiation of Catholicism”
Once again my post-stroke ability to take notes results in
my inability to interpret my compromised handwriting.
 |
| Zitkala-Sa, Joseph T. Keiley |
« “Zitkala-Sa: A Warrior of Survivance [sic] between Traditionalism and Progressivism”
A mixed-ethnicity[3]
woman who identified with her mother’s Yankton Sioux heritage,
Zitkala-Sa, “Red Bird,” whose Euro-name is Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, first
entered my consciousness a few years ago when I came upon the following quote:
“A wee child toddling in a wonder
world, I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the
voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of
mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers. If this is Paganism, then at
present, at least, I am a Pagan.”
Zitkala-Sa was an amazing person. She straddled two cultures, seeking the knowledge and wisdom
of both, and she took those understandings into the world beyond the
reservation. She even wrote a
Native-themed opera, “The Sun Dance Opera,” that was first performed on stage
in 1913. Her finding values in
both cultures in which she found herself immersed seems relevant to what many
contemporary Pagans have been doing by learning about our various heritages,
and blends of heritages. We
syncretize what resonates for us into spiritual practices that give expression
of who we are and enrich the meaning in our rituals.
I’m registered for the AAR Annual Meeting in Boston and
hopeful that I’ll have enough money to get there.
In service to Coventina,
Macha NightMare
In service to Coventina,
Macha NightMare
[1] The inmates in our circle at San
Quentin State Prison, unlike in many other prisons, are allowed flame and
incense, at least when I’m there, and they all love incense. So we use it liberally and they emerge
from circle with the scents permeating their hair and clothing and reminding
them of where they’ve just been.
[3] I feel uncomfortable assigning
the word race to people of any heritage or complexion because humans comprise
one race or species.
