Samhain shona duit! I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday no matter what path of faith the you are on.
I am very excited about this years celebration and oddly enough preparded this year to deal with all that must be done. I am hopeful, happy and ready to set those extra plates at the table for my ancestors.
In light of the holiday, I will be off line until after the sunrise of November 3rd. That includes this blog here, e-mails and the other sites that I write for.
Yes, here we are in October with Samhain looming on the horizon and I know that it is time to get back to business.
Last month was awash in frustrations and overwhelming business. The old adage of some much to do and not enough time to do it in certainly took precedence. September seemed to be bogged down with a lack of time, lack of rest and a lack of action. Because of last month it has occurred to me that I need to take a better hold of my projects and sadly need to let a few of them go.
…read full article…
Pope Benedict gave a speech to more than a quarter of a million people in Paris last week. Now, normally I really don’t have that much to say about the Pope in general but there was one thing that stood out to me during the Pontif’s address and that is:
At mass on Saturday morning in Paris, the pope told more than a quarter of a million people that the modern world had turned money, possessions and power into idols as false as the gold and silver statues worshiped by the pagans of antiquity.
“Has it not imitated, perhaps inadvertently, the pagans of antiquity, by diverting man from his true end, from the joy of living eternally with God,” he said. Read full article here.
Another article to check out is this gem entitled Pope in Paris condemns love of money, power: PARIS (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI condemned unbridled “pagan” passion for power, possessions and money as a modern-day plague Saturday as he led more than a quarter of a million Catholics in an outdoor Mass in Paris.
Interesting theme for a speech coming from a religious leader decked out in gold. That’s just my thought on it. Kind of a “pot calling the kettle black” sort of thing. Funnier still is trying to promote the ideal that a love of money and power comes not from a religious institution that was built upon those precepts but no it comes form those “pagans”.
Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention everyones favorite overboard news agency Fox News. They ran the story of the Pope with this headline: Pope Condemns ‘Pagan’ Passion for Power, Money During France Visit
Yep, now I’ve gone and mentioned the Pope and quoted an AP article with a link 
A retired vicar named Rev Kevin Logan published a book in 1987 entitled Paganism and The Occult. In light of Harry Potter’s popularity, the reverend has decided to update and re-release his book.
Now, I have purposely not commented on the whole Harry Potter and Paganism topic over the years because I felt that the “hoohaa” was completely unfounded. In my personal opinion, which goes the same for the controversy over Brown’s Da Vinci Code, these books are works of creative fiction. Rowling tells a good story that appeals to many people and she does it in away that captures people’s imaginations. Yet, at the end of the day they are still works of fiction neither Rowling nor Brown has ever tried to sell their work as historical truth. I digress, though as covering Rowling’s work is not what this post is about.
This post is about the Rev Kevin Logan and his statements to the UK’s The Citizen. Rev Logan who expresses his concerns about the rise of Paganism as: “Harry Potter is a PR exercise for paganism. One hundred children a month are contacting pagan organizations wanting to know how to become a witch or wizard. I did a Google search for paganism and thousands of groups were inviting me to join a coven or become involved with pagan ways – it is an issue we need to be aware of.”
One of the main tenets underneath the umbrella of Paganism is that we do not prostelytize. Pagans do not go around trying to convert people and coven’s do not actively seek people to join up. We don’t have social conversion or prayer gatherings and we certainly do not require as a part of the faith to go door to door to spread our own beliefs to people who are not looking for it. I would really like to know where Rev Logan came by is statistics.
Who are these “thousands of groups” who he states that tried to get him to join a coven? Where is the statistical information showing that one hundred children a month are contacting Pagan organizations? Does Rev Logan even know of any Pagan organizations?
Blatant assumed statements like Rev Logan’s confuse me in this day and age. What seems to be going on here (and I could be wrong) is that Rev Logan is retired and is at an apt stage to re-release a book for profit. If the concern was really with saving people from Paganism, why not re-release the book for free? He also seems to be a bit late in rehashing the whole war on Harry Potter and Paganism stance, as the books have been out for quite awhile. Why wait so long to warn people about the dangers?