Beyond Memorial Day/Embracing Our Veterans

Last year in April the Interfaith Center of the Presidio and others sponsored a day-long series of presentations designed to help religious leaders to learn about the needs of returning veterans and their families, and to help them understand the unique problems they have in successfully reintegrating into their communities.  I had begun blogging about this event, called Beyond Memorial Day: Understanding the Hidden Wounds of War, and then evidently I forgot the blog.1

Don Frew, who is a member of the ICP Board, and I were among the planners.  We were the only Pagan presence and the only non-Abrahamic presence among the planners.  In attempt to more accurately reflect the religious diversity of this region, I contacted my interfaith colleagues in the Hindu American Foundation and located Srivats Iyer.  Srivats offered a prayer before lunch.  Although Srivats is neither chaplain nor service member, as a pilot he has regularly flown supplies into Iraq.

Don and I were allotted a whopping five minutes to speak on the use of ritual in reintegrating returning veterans into their families and communities.  I read a brief piece, followed by Don's leading us in a brief tree of life meditation as an example of an accessible ritual act that everyone of any religion can do in almost any circumstance to reawaken a sense of connection and interdependence and to reconnect us to our ground of being.  The folks at ICP asked if they could publish my "Ritualizing Returning Home" on their website, where it remains.2

Another year has passed and one of last year's sponsors produced another event, this time co-sponsored by the Interfaith Center of Contra Costa County.  Previously I had expressed my interest in participating in similar events in the future, and, although I was not among the planners of this latest effort, called Embracing Our Veterans: Helping Congregations and Spiritual Communities Respond to Their Needs,3 my contribution of the previous year led the organizers to ask me to expand the talk into a one-hour workshop.

The organizers had assembled an impressive array of speakers and resources.  I arrived after the keynote address; however, I picked up several very useful handouts and spoke with her later.

Keynote speaker the Rev. Charlotte Bear is Regional Trainer and Educator for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, interfaith chaplain with the United Methodist Church and the Universal Interreligious Order, U.S. Army veteran of the Panama-Grenada-Lebanon conflicts, and recipient of an Army Commendation Medal and a Meritorious Award for serving as the first woman TV news director in combat theaters.

Her handouts included information about: (1) ministry barriers; (2) a comprehensive list of the military community; (3) outline of the process by which war is declared; (4) the service member's "Oath of Enlistment"; (5) "uniformed" military branches and their areas of responsibility; (6) service ranks/rates/grades; (7) who is a veteran?; (8) combat periods at a glance; (9) the veterans' community; veteran populations (from different wars, women, disabled, etc.); (10) California veteran populations by county; (11) VA4 system at a glance; different military generational experiences; (12) current military work and configuration (missions, gays, women in combat, periods of service, etc.); (13) polarizing projections; (14) understanding issues service family members face; (15) major service-connected medical issues; (16) psycho-social-spiritual conditions across all combat eras; (17) military family stressors; (18) military family support; (19) conversation starters; and (20) ministry ideas in the mission field.  You can see what an amazing series of resources this is.

Various agencies had information tables, too, from which I took "Ten Things You Should Know to Help Bring the OIF/OEF Veteran All the Way Home," "10 Things Your Combat Vet Wants You to Know," and an extensive bibliography.

There were two guided conversations during the day, "Building Bridges Between Military and Civilian Cultures" and "Entering into Spiritual Conversation with Veterans."  Panelists were pastors, chaplains, rabbis, and military personnel -- again, all Abrahamic.

Two other workshops took place at the same time as mine.  I was most interested in "Recognizing PTSD and Moral Injuries" and thankfully presenter the Rev. Penny Phillips gave me a copy of her notes.

In seeking resources within the Pagan world for my workshop, I received material from four individuals.

• Erynn Rowan Laurie, herself a veteran, provided me with two Celtic reconstruction rituals, one, "Warrior Consecration Ritual," for sending a soldier into combat and another, "Warrior's Return Ritual," for welcoming him home.  

• Graeco-Egyptian reconstructionist Tony Mierzwicki shared material from his presentation "Pagan Warriors Past and Present" at the Claremont Pagan Studies Conference this past January.

• A phone conversation with Selena Fox inspired the first piece I wrote on Ritualizing Returning Home. 

• And finally, David L. Oringderff, retired from a 27-year career in the military, sent me the Ritual Altar Book of Sacred Well Congregation. 

Photos illustrating my Power Point are from a warrior blessing ritual created veteran David Sassman of Pagan Educational Network and performed at CoG's MerryMeet in Indiana in 2010.

Tony's work provided me with statistics about Pagans in today's military and the general composition of military chaplaincies. For instance, DoD data reveals that of the 2,500 military chaplains currently serving "the nation's corps of chaplains leans heavily toward evangelical Christianity, failing to mirror the military it serves."  And "Even though just 3% of the military's enlisted personnel and officers call themselves Southern Baptist, Pentecostal or some form of evangelical, 33% of military chaplains [who are supposed to serve all religions] are members of one of those groups," according to the Pentagon.  Air Force data reveal that "87% of those seeking to become chaplains are enrolled in evangelical divinity schools."  Estimates of the number of Pagan military personnel and dependents vary from 10,000 to 100,000 (from the Military Pagan Network (1992-2010), Circle Sanctuary and retired U.S> Army Major Michelle Boshears).  Although these data don't directly concern veterans and ritual, knowing them fortified my resolve to continue addressing the needs of Pagans in the military in whatever small ways I can.

When we are confronted with the uniqueness of veterans' experiences, and challenged to help them in their changed states to reintegrate into their families and communities, I wonder what we can offer in the face of these challenges.  I have chosen ritual.

Ritual is something for which I have an enduring interest. Within the Pagan world our rituals are not hidebound and unchangeable.  We often create new rituals and recreate older ones.  So ritual theory, design, techniques, and suggestions are things we can bring to the common table in the world of interfaith.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute something, anything, to this effort, and I hope other opportunities present themselves in the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.  I suspect I was distracted by the mind-blowing experience of having my grandson appear out of nowhere exactly one year ago today.

2. This piece was also published last year on this blog and on the CoG Interfaith blog.

3.  I much prefer the former title, "Beyond Memorial Day: Understanding the Hidden Wounds of War."

4.  In doing genealogical research, I have learned that before the Civil War there was no formal governmental aid for veterans.  The U.S. Sanitary Commission was established to meet that need.  The commission was set up by each state, and one of my forebears, Dr. Harold Havelock Kynett, was one of the people who set up the U.S. Sanitary Commission in the State of Iowa in 1861.

Reclaiming Tradition History & Lore Archives

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

20 March 2013

RECLAIMING TRADITION HISTORY & LORE ARCHIVES

I, M. Macha NightMare, aka Aline O’Brien, have transferred all of my e-collection, including listserve archives, of miscellaneous Reclaiming history and lore to Slippery Elm, aka Geordie McIntyre Kennedy.

Other early Reclaiming papers, notes, and ephemera have been sent, and continue to be sent, to the New Alexandrian Library in Delaware, where they will be catalogued and archived.  Some sensitive materials will remain sealed for some years and available, in time, to credible researchers.

Having disaffiliated myself from all Reclaiming organizations, and having been the keeper, both casually and later officially, of various history and lore materials (i.e., when and how certain chants and songs came into use; earlier forms of teaching and organization; earlier constellations of personnel; etc.), and feeling that these data are worth being preserved for others and for future generations, I have chosen to entrust this material to a younger person still active in the tradition.

I have chosen Slippery Elm based on our personal relationship, his word as a poet, and his dedication to Craft.

All inquiries about access to this material may be directed to Slippery Elm at slip.elm@gmail.com

and/or the New Alexandrian Library.  I remain available to respond to personal queries if, in Slippery’s judgment, they are appropriate.

This transfer of materials marks another step on a personal path that diverges from my “mother trad.”

Spring cleaning done!

On the Matter of Big Name Pagans

My friend Peter Dybing has posted this blog, "Killing the Big Name Pagans," at Pagan in Paradise.  I tend to get more inspired when writing something responsive to the ideas of others, which often means I just post a long response.  When I do that, my thoughts don't make it beyond that feedback form.  So today I've decided to post my full response here:

I agree with the opinions expressed in earlier feedback at Pagan in Paradise by Thorn, Peg and Elizabeth. Here are few factoids that inform my opinion:

*  How one conducts oneself is more important to me than how high one's public profile is.

*  Leaders happen. Some people have leadership qualities, like initiative, and others have less or none at all. And just because someone takes on a leadership role doesn't mean that others have to follow. With no followers, one is not leading anything or anyone. But the emergence of more informed and/or influential and/or accomplished individuals is natural. Nature, is Nature not our teacher?

*  There is a big difference between those who see an opportunity to be of service, to do something worthwhile and that probably benefits many, and those who are building a career out of being some 'Pagan personage.'  Whether it's selling books, acquiring teaching gigs for money, whatever, that's somewhat different from leadership, per se. Which is not to say that one cannot be and do both -- be of service and sell books. My point is that motivations may be different. If you have to make some money to pay the rent and what you do to earn money is sell books and give workshops, you have a different motivation from someone who's just doing some kind of labor-intensive and responsibility-laden Pagan-oriented work (like organizing a festival or keeping the account books) that I would also view as a leadership role.

*  Lastly, we live in a culture of celebrity. No matter how 'different' and unaffected by mainstream mores we may claim to be, every one of us lives within, and is affected and informed by, the overculture.

Having said all that, I will conclude by mentioning that when you see Pagans doing work you consider beneficial or worthwhile, it's nice to give them some word of appreciation. As a sometime-recipient of words of encouragement, I can tell you it really feels good. Conversely, it doesn't feel so good to be overlooked.

By the same token, if someone is doing something publicly on behalf of Paganism and you think what they're doing is not good, it's appropriate to address the things you think are problematic or those with which you don't agree. To hold that person accountable, at least to the community/organization on whose behalf that person acts. That does not mean trashing the person. It only means speaking to specific issues.

And if you really hate what someone is doing in the public forum, you really disagree, well, jump into that sandbox and build your own castle; put your own ideas in motion.

Claremont Pagan Studies Conference - III

Peter Dybing gave Sunday's keynote speech, "Stirring the Cauldron of Pagan Sensibilities."  A worthy pursuit to my mind.  In an animated talk, Peter emphasized that Paganism was not a monolithic institution.  He also spoke of the need for boundaries, avoiding what he called "the 2 a.m. crisis."  During feedback, I reminded folks that one of the required courses for degree-seeking students at Cherry Hill Seminary is Boundaries & Ethics.  I took the proto-class from Cat Chapin-Bishop back around 2000 and found it one of the most valuable classes I've ever taken.

He itemized several issues and then compared the attitudes about them of older Pagans and to those of younger generations.  He said that older Pagans generally held tightly to beliefs whereas younger ones welcomed debate.  I think this is true of any social phenomenon when it achieves some years; however, I don't think it's universal.  I count many Pagans, myself among them, as being open-minded, adaptable, and willing to engage on current issues, far from being hidebound.

It was helpful for me to hear, even though it's obvious, that we bring with us the cultural attitudes of our times.  I know that the feminism that underlies my being, religious and otherwise, has informed my views and practices.  I know that my experience pre-Second Wave Feminism is very unlike the experience of women who, for instance, grew up in a world where reproductive choice is a given.  And that's just on one issue.  I know that the zeitgeist of my formative years differs from the zeitgeist of subsequent generations.  Sometimes hearing something stated clearly from another person gives the fact a more crystalline ring.  Thank you, Peter.

There was a contention Peter made with which I disagree.  He showed photos of about six prominent Pagans and said how important it was to respect them.  (I think 'respect' was the verb he used.)  In any case, the sentiment was that we should excuse bad behavior among Pagans who've had a strong positive impact for many seekers.  (Peter, I welcome clarification of this if I've misunderstood.)  Respect cannot be forced.  There are some I simply cannot respect.  That doesn't mean I'm gonna run out and trash them all over the place.  I see no benefit to anyone.  On the other hand, if a sincere question comes my way concerning some incident or behavior and I have personal experience of the party(ies) involved, then I can't in good conscience ignore what I consider damaging, or potentially damaging, conduct and turn my back to the querent.  My answer may be oblique and avoid specifics, but it will not whitewash.  That said, such problematic individuals are thankfully rare.

We live in a culture of celebrity.  None of us, including Pagan leaders, is immune to its allure.  So it's understandable (1) that people might have a tendency to hero-worship those they perceive as Pagan celebrities, and (2) that prominent Pagans might succumb to the glamor of being 'celebrated.'

Indeed, it behooves us to show our appreciation for the gifts of our more visible and activist Pagans, be they artists, musicians, writers, or whatever, and to treat them with respect.  At the same time, I believe everyone is accountable to her or his community (whoever that may be and however that is defined).  With leadership goes responsibility. 

For all of my high-mindedness from up here on my horse, I cannot say what any individual has to learn from another.  Teachers and teachings sometimes come in unlikely packages.

Remember, though, young and haler Pagans, to notice if some greying person near you might need a chair, would welcome a place at the front of a long food line, or could use a hand with that luggage.

* * * * *

The final session consisted of four presenters: Sam Webster on "Pagan Soteriology," Tony Mierzwicki on "Pagan Warriors Past and Present," Amber Dineén Gray "On Racism, Misogyny, and Homophobia in Pagan Reconstructionist Communities," and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang on "Field Research of Collecting the Oral Stories of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea, and Uncovering Her Magoist Implications."

Having a concern for the well-being of returning military veterans,1 I found Tony's presentation especially interesting.  Again, my notes are fragmented, but I jotted down "betrayal of those in power," "guilt for surviving," and "alienation on return," all of which are common among the battle-worn.   Tony claimed that the key to avoiding PTSD is to adhere to a strict moral code.  He explained that it's the custom among warriors to say prayers in unison and to pour libations before entering battle.

Tony's sources reveal that there are approximately 20,000 Pagans in the U.S. Armed Forces.  I know from reading and from hearing from service members that chaplains often lead prayers with those about to enter combat, and also that there is pressure put upon all military to accept some form of Christianity.  Their mission is evangelic.  The job of chaplains is to serve the spiritual needs of all their clients regardless of their religions.  Unfortunately, that's more the stated expectation than the reality.  The largest portion of military chaplains in today's forces are Southern Baptist who have a goal of bringing people to their way of thinking about Jesus Christ.  (This latter imbalance I have learned from my interfaith involvement.)  I don't think I need to say how dangerous it is to enter battle, and how critical it is to feel the bond with one's unit that means everyone has everyone else's back.  Because of this imbalance, as a priestess, I'm open to opportunities to help military Pagans feel more supported.

Tony described two military traditions from the ancient world2 that seem more humane to me than what I know of more modern practices.  He said that the defeated side in a battle was allowed to collect its dead, and that the shrines of the defeated side were not defaced or destroyed.

I'm grateful to Tony for giving me a better understanding of the religious dimension of ancient warrior culture.

Others have reported on Amber Dineén Gray's unsettling experiences with racism, misogyny and homophobia in a reconstructed tradition.  I concur with them that she was brave to share her knowledge, and I hope we were able to reassure her that her experience is not typical of most Pagans.  In a way, what Amber encountered relates to the Pagan fundamentalism of which Dr. Magliocco had spoken the previous day. 

~~~~~~~~~~
1.  See "Beyond Memorial Day: Understanding the Hidden Wounds of War," an interfaith event in which Don Frew and I were the only Pagan participants.

2.  I'm not sure exactly which ancient world, although I suspect Mediterranean, because Tony had way too many written words on Power Point slides for us to get all the juicy information offered.  Several presenters in addition to Tony had to skip over interesting work due to time constraints on each presentation.

Claremont Pagan Studies Conference - II

Day Two, Session Five, was a panel on Bringing Pagan Sensibilities into Classroom Pedagogy, and featured Zayn Kassam, Jennifer Rycenga, and Dorothea Kahena Viale. 

Jennifer Rycenga's talk, "Richard Jeffries and F.C. Happold: The Presumption of Nature's Naïveté," introduced us to the work of English nature writer and mystic Richard Jeffries.  She quoted some beautiful passages of his soul's awakening from The Story of My Heart. available online at Project Gutenberg.

Dorothea Kahena Viale described her current teaching innovations at Cal Poly-Pomona using art, movement, and rhythm in "Drumming, Dancing, Masks and Circles in the Academic Classroom"

The next panel was on the Pagan History Project, an idea that arose out of last year's conference.  Armando Marino (Murtagh anDoile) initiated this project, and he and I have discussed it in interim -- I did not attend the conference last year -- with a plan to join our resources for the enrichment of the effort.  Tagh emerges from NECTW in New England while I emerged only a few years later on the West Coast.

In Tagh's talk, "Reconsidering Magic and Witchcraft in America Before Gardner: Grandmother Stories Reconsidered, or 'Don't Throw out the Baby with the Bathwater," he spoke of the emergence of Craft in the 1950s, its flowering in the 1960s; how groups adopted such things as working in circles, watchtowers, and a divine dyad to give themselves some sort of legitimacy; and how they became progressively more secretive.  The people he spoke of were Lady Gwynne/Gwen Thompson (Phyllis Healey, d. 1986), her grandmother Ariana Porter, and the influences of Spiritualist Emma Hardinge Britten, folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland, anthropologist Margaret Murray, James George Frazer, and Aleister Crowley.  He cites the appearance of The Rede after Doreen Valiente in 1964, and also the research of Robert Mathiesen.

Sabina introduced each speaker and moderated this panel.  When it came time for my presentation, "Elders and Oldsters, Ancestors and Teachers," she gave such a glowing introduction I was stunned and surprised, especially by the applause the followed, even before I spoke.  This provided me the perfect opportunity to preface my talk by telling why and how I happened to be there that weekend.  I said I'd been invited by some of the organizers, and helped in the effort to get there, because, as they told me, they sympathized with how rootless I'd been feeling since cutting myself off from my long-time community and they wanted me to know that they, too, were one of my communities, and that they appreciated and loved me.  I was deeply touched.  You can see why this weekend was restorative and healing for me.

Sam Webster followed with "Theurgy and the Ancient Origins of Today's Pagan Religion," in which he spoke of Iamblicus, Agrippa, and the Golden Dawn; theurgy = possession, channeling, drawing down, aspecting, from the Chaldean Oracles; anagogy = ascending into "the one"; solar worship = ascending into the light); and photogogia = bathing in the light.

With all of these presentations, information I wanted to note was coming fast and furious, thus what I was able to capture is frustratingly limited.  Also, many presenters had more slides in their Power Points that time allowed, so they were forced to omit stuff and they rushed the slides along faster than note-taking could accommodate.

Part III to follow shortly.

Claremont Pagan Studies Conference - I

I join the chorus of voices reporting on the general wonderfulness of the 9th Annual Claremont Pagan Studies Conference.1  I found the overall quality of presentations exceptionally high, as they were the last time I attended two years ago.

I arrived Friday night after a long solo drive from the SF Bay Area to Los Angeles, through rain and the hairy Grapevine Canyon through the Tehachapi Mountains, stressed and with intense pain between my shoulders.  Cranky, in other words.  Soon Lauren cheered me up.

Saturday morning's first session consisted of four speakers.  Joseph Nichter, an Iraq war veteran, spoke of using Tarot in healing PTSD.  I loved his ideas about what he calls "peripheral exploration," wherein the querent draws a single card, places it on a larger sheet of paper, and draws a scene that embeds the image in the card in a larger picture.

Others have written about Sabina Magliocco's keynote speech on Saturday on "The Rise of Pagan Fundamentalism."  I will only add a few notions I jotted down.  She spoke of the fact that foundational narratives foster group cohesion, and the core experiences are those common to all people of all religions.  She pointed out that the reconstructed traditions are growing faster than witchen traditions, and that their practitioners tends to disdain syncretism.  The fact is that those very ancient traditions "recons" seek to reconstruct were themselves syncretic.

During Q&A, I told a story about an encounter I had at Reclaiming's Dandelion Gathering this past August.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

On the first morning at Dandelion there was nothing on my agenda, so I asked if I could sit in and listen to the discussions of the WitchCamp teachers.  Conversation turned to the subject of new ideas for teaching, at which point I asked if I could offer a suggestion.

I told of my experiences in different places around the country where there was a Reclaiming community of some kind that I'd been told did not socialize or collaborate or in any other way interact with other local Pagans.  How most (some would insist all) Reclaiming communities are very insular.  This comports with my experience locally as well, although here there are some exceptions for such things as the Berkeley Pagan Festival.  I recommended they consider reaching out to other Pagans in their areas, that this very likely would result in some cross-fertilization that could bring some fresh perspectives to their teachings.

Now if you know me at all, you know that networking seems to be hardwired in my makeup.  I cannot help myself when I see connections I see as having potential for enrichment, even collaboration.  So I have spent more than thirty years helping to foster Pagan solidarity.2  Suggesting this to Reclaiming WitchCamp teachers arose from my nature.

Later in the lunch line, one of these teachers told me that what I had described as exclusivity or maintaining an exclusionary attitude (often experienced, even within Reclaiming groups themselves, as cliquishness) was not really exclusivity.  She said they were "fundamentalists."  Huh?  This really took me aback.

In reply, I asked "Don't you have to have a doctrine or credo or some kind of orthodoxy to which to adhere before you can call yourself a fundamentalist?"  By this time we had reached the food and the conversation was dropped.  Still, I was nonplussed.  This conversation also plays in to my August disaffiliation from the trad.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

When I related this at Claremont, the room erupted in laughter.  Sabina and I concluded this little interchange by clarifying that in this case, "fundamentalism" really meant "we're so cool and special."

Among the speakers after lunch, Alfred Surenyan discussed "New Directions in Pagan Music."  He spoke about different musical forms in which Pagans were writing and performing Pagan-themed music, beginning with rap.  He differentiated rap from hip hop, explaining that rap came from Africa and it had to do with rapping rhythmically with a stick.  Examples given were Belgian Mani De Bard and Canadian Dano Hammer.

He listed several compositions in classical modes by Seamus Gagné, including "Cantata for Beltain."  This cantata, with strings and chorus, was performed once, in 1990, on Vashon Island, Washington, for CoG's MerryMeet.  It was recorded at the time, but somehow in the intervening years the recording has been lost or destroyed.  I was present at that performance.  As I recall, the lyrics of the cantata seemed to be based on Lady Sheba.  Although I enjoyed the cantata and thought it well-performed, and I am disappointed the recording is no more, I think of Beltain as a time of wild abandon, a state this musical form does not allow expression.  I love the idea of Pagan-inspired cantatas; I would like to hear others for other soberer sabbats.

Alfred also Spoke of the "Missa Druidica," by Joseph C. Nemeth (Theman the Bard) performed by the Orpheus Pagan Chamber Choir in Denver. 

The Missa Druidica is inspired by "the great sung Catholic masses of the 18th and 19th centuries, combined with the beautiful modern Druidic liturgies of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD) of England."

To Alfred's investigation of Pagan composers and performers I suggested the "A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual," by Julie Middleton and S. Morgan-Appel, which has been performed in Philadelphia and other venues; and Pagan hip hop artist Slippery Elm from Vancouver.  

I have the greatest appreciation for these many new artists who are helping to make and shape Pagan culture.

Jeffrey Albaugh's presentation, entitled "As Above, So Below: Pagan Theology, Polytheistic Psychology, and Pagan Praxis," concluded with the creation of this pentacle.

Session Four, the final session on Saturday, was a panel discussion on Community Engagement through the Lens of a Pagan-Buddhist Perspective.  First to speak was Francesca Howell.  I was delighted to finally meet Francesca in person, since we have been online friends for some years, in the context of Pagan Studies.  During much of that time she lived in Italy; now she's back in the U.S.  Her talk was "Sense of Place and Community: An International Pagan Perspective."

Lauren Raine spoke on "Numina: Sacred Places and Pagan Pilgrimage."  You can get a sense of her presentation here. 

The day concluded with Marie Cartier's "Stories from the Yoga Mat," followed by a brief, much-needed yoga stretching.

A too-big gang of us moved to a too-busy and very noisy restaurant nearby to talk further.  I wanted to take this opportunity, while I was in Southern California and we were both in the same venue, to chat with Tagh about the Pagan History Project he's proposed.  We both think I have a lot to bring to the project.  More as things unfold.

That's it for day one, folks.

~~~~~~~~~
1.  I have used the term Claremont Pagan Studies Conference because that's the name by which I first knew it.  Over the past few years the name has morphed -- Claremont Conference on Contemporary American Studies, Claremont Conference on Current Pagan Studies, and similar.  Since the only kind of Pagan studies there is is current, or contemporary, I've omitted the reference to time.

2.  My friend Oak has labeled my role as "ambassador," and I think she has a point.

Witches, Black Panthers & Sufis

Interfaith at Samhaintide

Marin Interfaith Council has been offering monthly interfaith contemplative services for peace.  The October gathering, at Sausalito Presbyterian Church, was to feature Pagan religions (specifically "Wiccan") in honor of the season of Samhain.  I had committed to conducting this hour-long service; however, I was also selected to be a Deputy Inspector at the polls and the mandatory training for that job was scheduled for the same evening.  So I asked my friend Gwion Raven, who had helped me at the Thanksgiving Eve service for the homeless (and their supporters) last year, if he would do it.  I had planned on two readings, which I suggested he use.  He did use them, plus taught some chants that the group did together.  In reflecting on his experience, Gwion said, "It really affected me...I had never experienced being recognized as a Pagan and been so warmly welcomed in a Christian church.  [Attendees showed] genuine curiosity." I thank Gwion for his work.

The following day, when I attended MIC's clergy luncheon, three people, including Paul Mowry, the new pastor at Sausalito Presbyterian, who had been to the contemplative service told me how much they enjoyed it.  I was glad to hear that and glad to relay that feedback to Gwion.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Interfaith as Matrix for Social Justice

The topic of discussion at the luncheon, held in the new Hannah Project1 Gallery space at Marin City,2 where we sat amidst an exhibit of photographs and other ephemera called "Architects, Activists, and Avengers: The Black Panther Party 1968, and featuring photographs by Pirkle Jones and his wife and collaborator, Ruth-Marion Baruch, was "The Role of Religious Communities in Movement Making."

I shared a table with two friends from Green Gulch Zen Center and Chris Highland, while we listened to three speakers.  Sister Colleen McDermott, Ph.D., told us of her study of the Highlander Center in Tennessee.

Founded in 1932 during the Great Depression in Tennessee as the Highlander Folk School, it began with programs to help rural women and organized different groups working for social justice and workers' rights. Among its founders and prominent participants were Myles Horton and his wife, née Zilphia Mae Johnson, Jane Wilburn Sapp, and Septima Poinsette Clark.  In the '30s and '40s the institute helped organize miners and textile mill workers.

In the 1950s Highlander taught desegregation and citizenship workshops with such participants as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ralph Abernathy, and organized voter registration efforts. The ubiquitous movement song "We Shall Overcome" comes from Highlander, which has always included music and the arts in its programming.  SNCC (Student Nonviolent Organizing Committee) has roots at Highlander.

During the 1960s and '70s Highlander refocussed on Appalachia, organized protests against toxic dumping, and more recently it has featured LGBT programs, multilingual programs for organizing immigrants (Pueblos de Latinoamerica Justice School), and post-Katrina relief.

Sister Colleen pointed out that religious organizations such as churches have the institutional structure that's an important underpinning of efforts at social change.  Institutions grant the authority to speak up and engage.  Myles Horton's early seminary studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York informed his dedication to organizing for social justice.

This is one of my arguments for having Pagans establish institutions such as Cherry Hill Seminary.

Pastor Johnathan Logan, Sr., from Cornerstone Church of God in Christ in Marin City, spoke of his church's mission, quoted in part below:

Glorifies God by its standards of holiness, righteousness, and obedience to His Word. Demonstrates Christ's command to love one another. ... Worship God in spirit and truth recognizing that Jesus is Head of the Church  Recognize its interdependence with other members within the body of Christ which [sic] may not be of the same denominational affiliation. ...  Fulfills Christ's command to evangelize the world.

Third to speak was Pastor Veronica Goines of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, a "historical multicultural congregation" also in Marin City.

I found the speakers demonstrated an inordinate underlying assumption of an Abrahamic religious viewpoint.  For instance, the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. was invoked frequently, yet no mention was made of such figures as Malcolm X and others in the Black Muslim movement that also arose from those fertile and changing times.  Neither was there acknowledgement of the African diaspora religions that also gained adherents since those transformative years of the '60s and early '70s.

Now I understand that Marin's population is predominantly white.  And I know that this program was not intended to reflect every change to have arisen from religious communities in the those times.  Further, local branches of the Black Muslim church have either dissipated or fallen into corruption.3

I wanted to mention this as I, a polytheist, sat there with my non-deist friends amidst the assumption of monotheism, but I couldn't come up with a constructive way to comment.  Having said all this, I will say I enjoyed the program; I learned a lot that I hadn't known before and may never have been exposed to otherwise.  The speakers provided insights and provoked further reflections.  It was worth every minute.

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Visionary Marin

In a busy two weeks for MIC, we concluded with the annual Visionary Marin Awards Ceremony, this year honoring Dr. Nahid Angha.  Musicians played while people sampled delicious food prepared by the sisters of Brahma Kumaris and from Green Gulch Farm and elsewhere, and bid on an array of silent auction items as well as buying raffle tickets for several beautiful gift baskets.  A slide show of photos of religious activities by the member congregations of MIC demonstrated the rich variety of our membership.  I was pleased to see some photos of Pagans dancing round a Maypole that I had taken.

Among the many accomplishments that led MIC to give Nahid this year's Visionary Marin award is her  founding of the International Association of Sufism and Sufi Women Organization  , "an international humanitarian organization promoting universal human rights."

We learned more about Nahid from a Q&A session done with the Rev. Charles Gibbs, Executive Director of the United Religions Initiative.

Everyone left feeling that their culinary, intellectual, and community appetites had been satisfied.  Plus we met our fundraising goal for the year.  Kudos to the Rev. Carol Hovis and her assistant, Allison Kirk, and the many volunteers who worked with them to make this event a success.


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1.  The Hannah Project assists African-American and other low-income students ages 8-22 and their families in efforts to boost academic performance and college graduation rates.

2. Marin City, begun with housing designed by the late Frank Lloyd Wright for the many workers who migrated here during World War II to work on the Liberty ships in the Sausalito shipyards. It is now home to the largest African-American community in the county.  Coincidentally, the famed architect's final commission was our Marin County Civic Center.

3.  See Your Black Muslim Bakery and murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey.