There are those who try to hijack Paganism in the name of their bigotry and their hatred: who crow “blood and soil!” as if that means something. As if it is anything more than an adolescent boy’s angry braying. Like most big lies, the “blood and soil” of neo-Nazis–some of whom describe themselves as “folkish” Pagans or heathens– contains a tiny kernel of truth buried in its pile of garbage. Because there is nothing wrong with a sense of allegiance to land and to family. The problem is in how right-wing haters narrowly define land and family: they value only this land where “we” came from…and “our people” is only…

From Gardner’s nudism and enthusiasm for sadomasochism, which he folded into the foundation of Wicca… …to taking and embracing the label “witch” (and, to a lesser degree, “pagan”)… …to taking unusual names and adopting radical environmental and social politics… …to everything about Aleister Crowley… …the roots and modern realities of modern Paganism are heavily sown with trangression: with deliberate contravention of societal norm. It’s not a surprise. In the US, the modern Pagan movement arose simultaneously with and within the context of the countercultural movement of the 1960s, which was, well…counter-cultural. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. But it could be an inherent impediment to Paganism ever becoming a…