United Religions Initiative, annual Global Council meeting, Day 1 & 2

United Religions Initiative, annual Global Council meeting, Day 1 &  2

October 10-11, 2015

So, it's the night of the second day of ten days of interfaith work.  

As many know, the Parliament of the World's Religions (www.parliamentofreligions.org) will be happening here in Salt Lake City in a few days.  Less well known is that the United Religions Initiative (www.uri.org) decided to save some travel expense and plan its annual, face-to-face meeting of its Global Council in Salt Lake for the five days leading up to the Parliament.  Back to back conferences is going to be a long haul.

I am a Continuing Trustee in this fourth term of the Global Council.  That means that I was selected by the previous Global Council to serve on this one to help ensure continuity.  There is one other Continuing Trustee, Elisabeth Lheure of Spain.  I was one of three Trustees elected for North America in the GC's first term.  In the second, I was appointed to serve as an At-Trustee.  I was also made an At-Large Trustee in the GC's third term.  URI founder Bishop Bill Swing and I are the only Trustees to have served on all four of the URI's Global Council's to date.  This makes us the GC's organizational memory.

Sunday was a travel day.  The flight from Berkeley / Oakland was about one and a half hours and an airport / hotel shuttle took me right to the Red Lion, where all of the URI Trustees and Staff are staying.  I arrived around 2:30 pm.  On the shuttle I ran into John Weiser, a member of the URI's President's Council - a group of friends of URI founder Bill Swing who work to raise the money to keep this whole show going.  Most of our 3.5 million dollar budget comes from them.  How to continue the President's Council after the President retires some day is one of the challenges we'll be addressing at this meeting.

Many Trustees had to come great distances and we arrived in dribs and drabs over the course of the day.  After checking in, I had a few hours before we were to meet in the lobby to go to dinner.  The rooms are reminiscent of PantheaCon.  I have a room to myself as I am told that I snore prodigiously.  I've never heard it, but I've been forced to believe others.  As a result I tell conference organizers that I have to share a room with someone else who snores, someone who's deaf, or have my own room.  I pay my own way, so it doesn't matter to the organizers.

At 7 pm, those of us who had arrived walked over to a nearby Thai restaurant for dinner.  We made an interesting group navigating the hotel parking lot, through a gap in the fence, into the parking lot of a mini-mall, and so to the restaurant.  We included:  Rev. Victor Kazanjian (URI Director & Episcopal / USA), Rattan Channa (Sikh / Kenya), Honorable Elisha Buba Yera (Christian & traditional / Nigeria), Dr. Kazi Nurul Islam (Muslim & Sikh / Bangladesh), Petar Gramatikov (Bulgarian Orthodox / Bulgaria), Marianne Horling (Humanist / Germany), Bart ten Broek (Protestant / the Netherlands), Ciro Gabriel Avruj ("Spiritual" / Argentina) and his assistant Mario, Audri Scott Williams (Christian & indigenous / USA), Sam Wazan (Muslim / USA), Peter Mousaferiadis (Greek Orthodox / Australia), Musa Sanguila (Muslim / the Philippines), and me (Wiccan / USA).

(Only about half of us were here, yet already the diversity was amazing!  You can Google almost any of the folks and read about their amazing interfaith work around the world.)  Several members of the URI Global Staff were with us as well.

The route to the restaurant took us along two sides of a store selling erotic lingerie, and its window displays were a sight to behold!  Earlier Global Councils included folks who would have been shocked and mortified at the sight, but I think this crew took it in stride.  I had to endure some ribbing about the "sexy Witch" outfit in the window, but I assured everyone that this was in fact our traditional religious garb.  They may not know a lot about us, but they can understand a joke.

Dinner was an opportunity to catch up with old friends, especially Peter.  If you remember my reports form the last Global Council meeting in Santa Clara CA last year, Peter was the one who was so shocked and enchanted to meet real Witches that he wanted picture after picture with me and Rachael to send home.  When a small earthquake struck during the meeting - with our tour bus moving back and forth - and Peter saw my hand shaking, he wondered if was casting a spell to cause the earthquake!  Peter organized most of the musical programming for the Melbourne Parliament and he is looking forward to seeing how it's handled at this Parliament.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel and relatively early to bed as we were to gather at 8:30 the next morning.  I spent a bit of the evening writing, as usual.

At Sunday breakfast in the hotel, we were joined by more trustees who had arrived late the previous night:  Ravindra Kandage (Buddhist / Sri Lanka), Prof. John Kurakar (Christian / India), Elisabeth Lheure (Baha'i / Spain), and Alejandrino Quispe Mejia (indigenous Quechua / Peru).  Over breakfast, I spoke with Petar about the situation in Bulgaria with Len.

(For those who didn't her about this... One of my coveners - Katya - has a relative - Len - who was vacationing in Bulgaria and was arrested a while ago at the request of the government of Kyrgyzstan. He was the retired executive of a mining company that did business in Kyrgyzstan and there were some sort of political machinations going on with the company and the Kyrgyzstani government.  The Kyrgyz thought that grabbing Len could give them some leverage and contacted the Bulgarians through Interpol to pick him up.  Anyway, Len was being held in a Bulgarian jail (not fun) and about to be extradited to Kyrgyzstan (much less fun) and so Katya turned to our Wiccan community for magical help and asked if I could pull any interfaith strings.  Knowing Petar is a mover and shaker in Bulgaria and very well connected, I asked him for aid.)

Petar told me that he had looked into the matter and was sure that the extradition would not take place.  With Western interest being focused on the matter, Len would certainly be released.  And so he was!

After breakfast, a group of us decided to walk to the Temple and take in the sights, before our programming began in earnest later that day.  Along the way, I got caught up with Alejandrino, with the constant help of the Spanish translation program in my Android.  I had taken Spanish from Nursery School through Middle School, but had switched to Latin in High School and had five years of that.  The result is that I can understand a lot of Spanish, but when I try to speak I'm not sure if I'm using Spanish words or Latin ones.  The Spanish comes back to me pretty quickly, but I'm not fast enough for conversation.  Alejandrino had taken English in High School, and studied for a month up in the Bay Area with Rachael (a project of the Spirituality & the Earth CC).  I insisted that I speak in Spanish and he in English, as we both taxed our memories.

At the Temple, we were immediately greeted by comely young missionaries who were eager to greet, inform, and hopefully convert us.  (They were all so uniformly good-looking with shiny white teeth that I had to wonder if beauty was a requirement for the job.  That made me uneasy.  "I'm sorry, dear, you are devout and well-informed, but you're just not pretty enough.")  That being said, the young ladies were all very nice and informative.  They marveled at the diversity of our group and wondered what brought us all together.  We explained the URI.  they wondered what brought us to Sal Lake and we explained about the Parliament.  They all had no idea this even was just a few days away and that they would soon be swamped by people of over 200 religions.

We all wandered off in different directions, but Peter and I stayed together.  We went through one of the Museums, where Peter heard Australian accents and ran into a huge singing star from Australia, a contestant in their X Factor program, disabled Iraqi war orphan Emmanuel Kelly.  (I didn't know who he was until I got back to the room and Googled him.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W86jlvrG54o  Wow!)  A woman with Emmanuel told about a group she formed as the result of being Mormon and having a gay son.  The first meeting of this group to support LGBT people in the Mormon church had 52 people show up!  There are more and more Mormons with LGBT family members and more and more are being open about it.  We talked about the possibility of her group working with similar efforts in the URI to form an LGBT-support Cooperation Circle.  We'll talk more.  Peter and I continued on around Temple square.  We had several conversations with young Missionary women.  In every case, once they learned about URI from us they seemed more interested in learning more about interfaith than converting us!  We seemed to be teaching more than learning .

We continued on around the square.  The city was immaculate and almost deserted.  On the way back, Peter's gout started bothering him so we got an Uber drive.  The driver explained that the Mormons stayed home on Sunday, so half the population was off the streets.

Back at the hotel, more Trustees had arrived: Vrajapati Das (Hindu / India), Swamini Adityanada Saraswati (Hindu / India), Genivalda Cravo (Spiritualist / Brazil), Sherif Awad Rizk (Coptic Christian / Egypt), URI Treasurer Becky Burad (Christian / USA), Chief Phil Lane, Jr. (indigenous Dakota & Chickasaw / USA), and Ros Sam An (Buddhist / Cambodia).  I accompanied Peter to his room to do some magical healing on his gout.  He seemed impressed with this first experience with magic.

Around 5 pm we gathered for shuttles to the local Episcopal Church Center for an opening dinner and where we would be holding our meetings.  The Center is only a few years old and quite pretty (http://www.episcopalutah.org/eccu/facilities/).  Our last arrivals were there: GC Chair Kiran Bali (Hindu / UK), URI founder & President Bishop Bill Swing (Episcopal / USA), several more Staff members, some more members of the President's Council, and one of the members of the URI Foundation, which manages our endowment.  Bill's dream is to raise a $100 million endowment to ensure that the basic costs of the URI are covered.  We're only part way there.

Kiran welcomed us to the 2015 meeting of the URI Global Council.  Victor introduced the Director of the Episcopal Center, who said that they always wanted the Center to be focused on interfaith, so we were most welcome.  Kiran invited each of us to introduce ourselves, starting with me.  Bill said a blessing over the food.  Victor encouraged us to sit with people we didn't know as well, to make new friends.  (That was hard for me.  After 13 years on the Council, I pretty much know everyone.)  I sat with Victor, Phil (who talked about the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the US Constitution), Sherif (who talked about the politics of Egypt & Syria), and others.

The Staff handed out binders with the documents we would need for the meeting and Victor walked us through the schedule.  He asked who would lead the first meditation / blessing, tomorrow morning.  Vrajapati immediately volunteered the Multiregion.  (While not a Multiregion Trustee, I am usually included with them, so they just assumed that I would be involved.)  I said that since we will be meeting in a box for a few days we should start outside.  We'll take everyone into the Center's garden and I'll lead a grounding meditation.

We had about a half-hour to schmooze before the shuttles arrived to go back to the hotel.  I spoke with Audri about overhearing a conversation she was having with Staff-member Pamela about Ferguson and Black Lives Matter!  I said that, in the URI, we have meta-CCs focused on Women, the Environment, Youth, and Indigenous People.  It's ridiculous that we don't have one on Race.  This, and LGBT issues, are something we must talk about!  I'll bring it up with Victor in the next couple of days.

Alejandrino and I (with the aid of my Android) started talking about the temple.  He had been singled out by a Spanish-speaking young Missionary woman who tried her best to convert him.  When he explained about his indigenous spirituality, the young woman tried to explain that the indigenous people of the Americas are descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel.  Alejandrino was having none of it.  She gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish before he left to come back to the hotel.

We continued our conversation on the shuttle.  When we reached the hotel, we asked Elisabeth Lheure to translate for us.  We ended up spending a couple of hours ranging over a number of topics.  (It's now 2 am and we have to gather to leave the hotel at 7:15 am, so I only have time for some highlights.)

* We talk about how, in Ayacucho (Alejandrino's home in the Andes) indigenous people are leaving the Catholic Church for Evangelical churches , not because they believe, but because of the power of the "new" as a way to escape the power of the Catholic.  There are 36 Catholic churches in Ayacucho, of which only 5 are operating.  There are over 200 Evangelical churches, some run out of people's homes.

* The Evangelical churches require folks to tithe 10%, but they just can't afford it.  To avoid the tithe, folks drive to markets far from town to exchange goods in a barter system, so they don't have income to tithe.

* We talked about LGBT issues and polyamory in the Wiccan community and the indigenous community of Ayacucho.  They have an interesting practice that everyone knows about, but no one talks about.  When women reaches menopause, "since her sex drive is so much stronger than her husband's", she will leave her husband - temporarily - and have relationships with several men.  This will go on for a few years, after which she will return to her husband and continue their relationship as if nothing happened.

* We talked about the preservation of sacred sites from those who would destroy them, those who would use them incorrectly, and those who would want to study them and preserve them, but prevent access for ongoing use.

* We talked about how global interest in Alejandrino is resulting in people in his city starting to take indigenous spirituality more seriously.  He finds young people expressing interest in learning how to make offerings at the sacred sites.

* In relation to that, Alejandrino told us about the radio program he used to do on indigenous issues - in Quechua on Saturday and in Spanish on Sunday.  He had to stop because he could no longer afford to pay for the airtime. (That's the way it works in Peru.)  We talked about the possibility of the Lost & Endangered Religions Project supporting Alejandrino in videotaping programs and putting them online.  It could be the beginning of an "indigenous radio" website.  A lot of ideas were tossed around, but I think we definitely have a new project.

* We talked about the priesthood of which Alejandrino is a part, but we didn't have time to get into this very deeply.  More later.

Okay.  Gotta go to bed.  I'm posting this and hitting the sack.  More tomorrow.

Blessed Be,

Don Frew

National Interfaith Representative

The Mid-Michigan Interfaith Dialogue Symposium

            On Sunday, April 19^th I attended the Mid-Michigan Interfaith organization’s first ever Dialogue Symposium, to which I was invited to present on Wicca. The event was preceded by a Saturday evening dinner for all the presenters and I had a wonderful first meeting with Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Baha’is, Native Americans and several others. The event was held at the Apple Mountain Resort in Freeland, Michigan, which is rather central to the state’s Tri-cities of Saginaw, Midland and Bay City.  I had been made aware of this event through my new friend Peter, who I met at the NAIN Connect in Detroit last August. Peter represented Congregation T’chiyah, a Reconstructionist and highly inclusive synagogue serving Metro Detroit from its Oak Park location.

            Earlier, after checking into my room at a Sheraton, I had the pleasure of meeting the organizer, Will Westerfield, along with his friend and our Lunch Plenary presenter Lelanda Lee from Colorado, Rev. Mike Weirnick and his husband Joel, all serving in the Episcopal community. We had a thoughtful conversation that included topics of inclusiveness and quantum physics. Lelanda has a distinguished career in the Episcopal Church highlighting women’s issues internationally as well as poverty, social justice, racism, Public Education, criminal justice, immigration and more.

            While Will went ahead to the dinner to meet other arrivals, the four of us drove ourselves there and continued to enjoy conversations that covered various topics. I introduced them to a recently coined term; “ammosexuals”, sometimes used to describe Open Carry advocates by people favoring less of the NRA influence in the US.

            Dinner was splendid, at the conference site, the Apple Mountain Resort, about 12 minutes from the Sheraton. I sat at a table with Mike, as well as David Strand, who presented an Introduction to Bahia Faith the following day, ironically against my own presentation. Others who sat at my table were Dr. Karunakaran, a surgeon who helped found the Hindu Temple of Saginaw, Dr. B.J. Singh, representing Sikhism, as well as their wives and others. There was light talk and several Middle Eastern appetizers before we had seated. I enjoyed a Cobb Salad and rich Lobster Bisque but went light on dessert. David tried to tempt me with his Salted Caramel Ice Cream, to which I had a taste, but otherwise avoided the many incredible offerings available.

The Saturday night dinner with other speakers and presenters

Since we were all co presenters, we all introduced ourselves and talked throughout and after dinner, going nearly 3 hours. I chatted with UU minister Jeff Liebmann and his wife about Pagans and Wiccans who also attend UU services and events. I have also done programs or attended events at the Detroit UU, back in the early ‘90s and was an Ad-Hoc member of the Detroit CUUPs group there.

            Since we had a Noon checkout time and would be at the conference site down the road, my new friends and I decided we would check out and drive separately to the conference and then be able to leave afterwards. I arrived early to find only a small handful of folks, so I was able to relax, enjoy coffee and chat with a couple of attendees. One of the most remarkable things for me, working in Interfaith, is that I don’t have to over explain Wicca or Modern Witchcraft to most folks. Indeed, some were quite knowledgeable themselves and so conversations moved to intermediate points or aspects needing clarification.

            After the introduction to the seminar, I moved to my first workshop, Mysticism across the Traditions, by Dr. Ray Lacina, PHD, a converted Muslim since 1989, who also studies and teaches about mystical principles as they appear in literature across the world. Gentle, thoughtful and provoking, the class used many contemporary and classic works of literature to show the central ‘alikeness’ of the world’s mystic, spiritual and religious thought. Dr. Lacina has worked in local Interfaith, in the Midland, Michigan area since 2001.

            Next up was 5 religiously Diverse Friends Get together and Discuss Evolution, which was about as cool as that sounds. Facilitated by Dr. Jon Cleland Host who is somewhat controversial in the Pagan world (http://humanisticpaganism.com), along with his Catholic, conservative Christian and Humanist friends restage a several year monthly discussion about religious and humanist views of evolution. It was lively and funny and was one of the better examples of people being able to remain friends and colleagues under very different viewpoints and beliefs. In between workshops I did speak with Dr. Host about more Pagan matters including his panel appearances at the last several Pantheacons.

            Then it was time for lunch and the opportunity to attend one of several breakout sessions so I chose the Beijing Platform with Lelanda Lee who gave an excellent presentation with slides, covering her remarkable work with women around the world in various organizations. There was a lot of emphasis on and from Lee’s partners, from across the spectrum of humanity, mostly of color showing the progress that has been made in the last 20 to 25 years but also addressing the concerns of where the work needs to continue and be amplified. Still there was much to celebrate in Lee’s story both personal and vocational. She is truly a great worker for women and their concerns and I found her charming and gracious in our personal conversations. Hope I get to see her again!

            The final session of three breakouts included my own, The Discovery of Witchcraft: An Introduction to Wicca and Modern Witchcraft. Many folks attended one of the other two sessions, especially Native American Healing Practices and other Traditions, hosted by Beatrice Jackson, but I did have an attendance of 2 dozen-30 or so folks. Although I had some technical problems at first, setting up my PowerPoint display, Ray Lacina was very kind to get me through and off I went. Since this was my actual first ‘big’ presentation to a non-Pagan audience I think it went okay. The day in general suffered from some small delays, mostly due to some technical setup issues, but as a first time ever symposium I have to give my best to Will and his staff for an incredible and well down event. I learned a lot and felt truly a peer in the community of Interfaith. So, due to some of the delays I needed to wrap up my presentation a little quickly but still served well.  From my summation,   Most Wiccans, most Pagans do not believe that our ways are suited for many or most people. But we are increasingly more aware of where we do fit in to the modern Paradigm. As we continue to head into more and more uncertain times, working in Interfaith with our spiritual brothers and sisters is the most fitting accomplishment we make for our shared world and ourselves.

            In total, there were 12 breakout sessions including mine with a bit of diversity that included Sikhism, Hinduism, Bahia, and Native American topics and concepts. There was a workshop addressing Christian Exclusivity as well as the Intersection between politics and religion.

            After the final breakouts, which included my own, there was a panel discussion, which I attended. Most of the questions addressed to us were light, though thoughtful and allowed others and me a moment to quip about something fun or happy about our religion or path.

At the panel discussion I'm the third person on the left

A particular line of question drew forth the fact that many modern Pagans don’t have structures they can openly practice with others, actual temples or houses of worship and I felt I was slightly needled by the participant next to me, who, as an aside comment implied that lack of an actual church or whatever meant we weren’t a legitimate practice or belief. But overall the tone was warm and reverent.

            With the breakout sessions and panel concluded there was a prayer service with all presenters on stage. I read the Charge of the Goddess, Silver Ravenwolf’s version, as well as sung a couple of songs, which were accompanied by wonderful performers Benjamin, and Analisa Gauthier (www.benjaminsmusic.com). Then came a wonderful Buffet dinner and a cash bar and other refreshments, followed by a tableside Dessert tray. Over the meal Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf gave the Keynote speech, which comprised many of his experiences as a major proponent of Muslim-Western relations. His career has spanned many years with in Faith and Diplomacy issues, with many awards including Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award (2011) and he was also listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the world (2011).

Imam FeisalAbdul Rauf delivering the Keynote speech at dinner

            Rather than stay for the final concert performances, which I’m sure were splendid, I did leave after dinner, finishing my good byes and hugs to new friends and beginning the 2-hour drive back home. I really enjoyed my first big presentation and hope I am able to come again for future symposiums.  It has been a great experience to attend this event. With respect, In Her Service, Oberon Osiris.

           

            

AAR Annual Meeting - V

Pachamama

November 2014

San Diego, CA

Day Three:  Sunday

Passed on these alluring sessions:

*     Religion and Roots of Climate Change Skepticism – not a problem amongst any Pagans I’m aware of.  This panel was comprised of “a Christian evangelical climate scientist; a professor of modern Jewish philosophy and rabbinical thought; an historian of science specializing in debates about climate change; and an evangelical leader in the ‘creation care’ movement.

*     Religion and Politics Section: “Contraception, Corporations, and Conscience: Evolving Appeals to Religions Liberty in the Context of U.S. Health Care.”  Again, this session was, as one might expect, Abrahamic-centric.  One paper in particular seemed worth hearing: Shannon Dunn on “The End of Religious Liberty? Discriminatory Laws, Religious Rhetoric, and Efforts to Shape the Body Politic.” 

*     Critical Approaches to Hip-Hop and Religion Group:  “Keepin’ it Real’ to ‘Keepin’ it Right’: Hip-Hop, Representation, and Epistemology.”  Talks included:

o   “’This Dark Diction, Has Become America’s Addiction': Religion, Race, and Hip-Hop in a Neo-Liberal Age”;

o   “Black, White, or Blue? The Indigo Children, Hip Hop, and the Interrogating Assumptions about the Race and Aims of ‘New Agers.’”;

o   “More Than Human: Bataille, Kanye, Eminem, and the Monstrous Quality of the Sacred”;

o   “Appropriation and Appreciation: Hip Hop as a Critical Category in the Study of Indigenous Religious Traditions with Special Attention Paid to Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation.”

I’m always curious about how our Pagan religions intersect with, and are impacted and informed by, contemporary culture.  In addition, I’m currently engaged in a mentoring/initiatory relationship with a young poet who is also a hip-hop artist.

*     Contemporary Pagan Studies Group, Gay Men and Religion Group, Lesbian-Feminist Issues in Religion Group, Men, Masculinities, and Religion Group, and Religious Conversation Group: “Evolving or Born This Way: Conversion and Identity.”

*     Hinduism Group and Law, Religion, and Culture Group: “The Politics of Religious Sentiment: Religion and the Indian Public in the Light of the Doniger/Penguin Affair.”  Surely a session for those engaged in religion, politics, and a free press. See comments about Jeffrey Kripal in the Wildcard Session comments here.

*     Public Understanding of Religion Committee: “The Doniger Affair: Censorship, Self-Censorship, and the Role of the Academy in the Public Understanding of Religion.”  Because (i) I’m devoted to a Hindu goddess and find that Hindu practice has informed my personal Pagan practice; (ii) a friend was moderating what could have been a contentious debate; (iii) I have read some of Doniger’s work and heard her speak; (iv) I have friends and colleagues in the American Hindu community; (v) I have friends and colleagues on both sides of this issue; and (vi) this impinges on the interfaith movement and interfaith relations, I had thought this was the session I’d be attending in this time slot….  However, I went to:

Contemporary Pagan Studies Group: “New Paganism(s) around the Globe.”   Now we’re cookin’.

Daniela Cordovil: “The Cult of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous Gods in Brazilian Wicca: Symbols and Practices.”  Since 2003 when I visited Brazil III Annual Witches Meeting (III EAB - Encontro Anual De Bruxos) in São Paulo, as a guest of Abrawicca (report here), I’ve taken a special interest in Brazilian expressions of Neo-Pagan spirituality, Wicca in particular.  I’d left my notebook in our hotel room when I picked up my companion’s tote, with her permission, I share some of Gwendolyn Reece’s notes. 

According to her notes, Wicca first arose in Brazil in the 1980s, with traditions beginning to manifest in the 1990s, followed by the formation of civil associations such as Abrawicca, the Brazilian Association of Witches (Associa"o Brasileira da Arte e Filosofia da Religi"o Wicca).  (This is where I come in.)  Daniela’s presentation primarily concerned Brazilian Dianic.

The Brazilian Dianic Tradition…organizes two annual meetings… In March…[they] honor the indigenous goddess Cy and in July they honor the Afro-Brazilian (Yorùbá Orisha) goddess Oshun (in Brazil, Ochún or Oxúm).

To me, it is remarkable that these Brazilian Witches are reclaiming their indigenous goddesses and worshipping them in a Wiccan format.  They held workshops discussing such goddesses as Cy (“Mother”), Anhanga, Ceucy, Matinta Pereira, Saci, Curupira, who evidently are no longer worshipped in Brazil except by Witches and possibly other Neo-Pagans.

They performed a ritual circle dance in honor of Coracy, and had an altar honoring Anangha, a god connected with waters, trees, and some animals.  “It was a Wiccan way to connect to Anhanga [and has] nothing that has to do with indigenous patterns.

“At an esbat (esbath) honoring Cy, the goddess’s body at the center of the circle dance is made of nuts, fruits, and legumes.”

They also fashion clay sculptures of Pachamama and leave them in the water.

“They invited a Tembe Indian to talk about Tembe culture, since ‘none of the participants other than the speaker had ever been in an indigenous culture.’”

They also created “an oracle inspired in indigenous symbols – made with indigenous signs.”

Gatherings of BBB (“Brazilian Witches in Brasilia,” the nation’s capitol) take place in July at a private communal farm owned by the high priestess of Brazilian Dianic Tradition, Mavesper Cy Ceridwen.  Almost ten members live there, with about 100 coming for the festivals.  They celebrate in Templo da Deusa (The Goddess Temple).

When Daniela showed her slides, I exclaimed sotto voce, “Oh, that’s Mavesper,” but she heard me, and I think she grew more relaxed and felt more welcome from that point.  It was exciting for me to see my Brazilian friends appear in this study.

Oshum

Honoring Oshum, the gathering featured:

*     Workshops to earn how to consult the Ifá conch shells;

*     Workshop about myths and histories of Orishas, adapting to Wiccan language, such as linking to Wiccan element constructions;

*     Workshop about traditional female societies in Africa – the Geledes Society

Interestingly, the people who were leading some of these workshops had actually been initiated into Candomblé, but left and became Wiccan and have brought some of the traditions and practices from Candomblé.  This is a point of conflict with practitioners of Candomblé since they are using and teaching rites from Candomblé to Wiccans.

   

They performed an esbath in Honor to Oshum featuring her main symbol of the mirror, and in which they included belly dance along with contemporary music and ritual.  They concluded with the sharing of Omolocum, traditional food prepared to Oshum, eaten with hands as in Afro-Carribean religion.

Omolocum

It would seem that Brazilian Wicca is about as syncretic as a religion can be, rich and diverse like the cultural milieu from which it arose.

Gwendolyn concludes by saying:

Brazilian Wiccan feels free to bring elements of traditional religions, but the indigenous don’t really practice them anymore.  However, the Afro-Brazilian religious tradition has tension – because of appropriation.

Here is an interesting article written by an American Pagan that I found on belief.net, but authorship is unattributed.  However, from the context, it would appear to have been written by someone from Reclaiming in Northern California.

* * *

Shai Feraro: “Is There a Future for Neopaganism in the Holy Land?: Past and Present in the Shaping of a Community-Building Discourse among Israeli Pagans, 1998-2013.”  Again, I rely upon Gwendolyn’s note-taking for this summary.  The speaker is a:

“Jewish born Pagan in Israel.  Paganism in Israel is relatively new phenomenon, … [since] the late 1990s.  The internet is largely responsible for the group.  Israeli Pagan Community – a few hundred.  There are probably a few hundred more that do not participate.  So, in this paper, looking at community-building and organizing.

Generally, at the moment, they are staying in the broom closet because …[Israel] is  a Jewish state, including the extreme Orthodox, and because… anti-witchcraft laws are in effect.  There is great concern that the community is too small and too fragile to be able to come out and be public and call themselves a religion and work for their rights.

There was a festival 2011 [mentioned in The Wild Hunt.  I note that Gwendolyn’s notes mention Rena Kessem; she was one of the organizers of this festival, and someone I’ve been in casual communication with Rena for several years.]

In Israeli society Jewish identity is a highly privileged one and if they claim the Pagan identity, they believe that they will probably lose the privilege of being Jewish and it will probably be replaced by negative connotations, including betraying the memory of those who died in the Holocaust.

Within Israel, you can be nonreligious, religious, or spiritual (which is considered to be non-serious – “Jew Age”).  Religious is considered to be Jewish; there is no place for Pagans.  It doesn’t map.

Part of the problem, also, is that the Ultraorthodox Jews tend to control certain aspects of the government.

There is a community leader who escaped from a Hasidic background and is out of the closet both as a witch and gay man and is encouraging others to come out.

Emphasis on the Burning Times tends to lead to secrecy; there is also the burning of the 300 prophets of Baal led by the Prophet Elijah. 

The question is whether there is any kind of fertile ground for rights in Israel.  Israeli Jews tend to hold onto the general theories that the Canaanites who were wiped out by the Israelites is the triumph of monotheism over idolatry.  So, Israeli Pagans are caught in a horrible bind.  If they follow Wicca or Druidism, they are seen as betraying their Jewishness.  If they reconstruct Canaanism, they are seen as bringing back the evil that the Israelites conquered.

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Unfortunately, the final speaker, Dmitry Galtsin of the Library of Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg was unable to present his paper on “The Divine Feminine in the Silver Age of Russian Culture and Beyond,” so moderator Chas Clifton read it.  What follows is from Gwendolyn’s notes:

Sophia became an icon of the silver age.  … Sophia is emergent unity,… the world-soul that is being saved and is that essence.  This is totally Hellenistic Gnosticism.  [Gwendolyn’s interpretation, not specifically articulated in the paper] He hasn’t called it that yet, but his description of Sophia is exactly that.

Mystical contact with female – the Sophia.  ….  She speaks mostly of her love for the philosopher. 

So, there are two images – the philosophical and also, however, the erotic lover.  They tend to be the white lily and the red rose.  Trying to reconcile but they have both sides. 

Rosenov  - Diana and Aphrodite – tries to bring the erotic into the Pagan context.  Mostly looking at the near east.  [I find no reference to Rosenov online and don’t remember any more that was said.}

Praises the Mari,…an ethnic group of Russia that maintained Paganism. 

Metashosky blends Paganism and Christianity.  The quote I really like is basically: “What is the difference between father and mother?  Philosophers don’t know, but children do.  Father will punish; Mother will forgive.”

Check back for my next and final report on AAR 2014 that will include information on “Religious Communitarianism, Utopianism, and the ‘Race Problem’ in Nineteenth Century North America” and “The Hidden, Transgressive and Camouflaged in Popular Religion.”

Yours in service to Coventina,
Macha NightMare/Aline O'Brien

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