There is an ABC interview entitled “The Good Life and Modern Paganism” done at PWR after Gede Parma’s ceremony on Wed. 9th Dec. The interview went to air on the 13th December here in Australia: http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s2769536.htm
The Good Life and Modern Paganism
I made one statement that I would change now after all this discussion about the term “Pagan” … but there you go ! It was only 13 minutes.

Also, the text of my portion of the program on “The New Archaic: Neuroscience, Spiritual Practice and Healing” is on-line at http://pagaian.org/essays/pwr-the-new-archaic.

Attention to this very attractive blog site is a bit compromised with the need to prepare for Summer Solstice ritual this weekend …
cheers
Glenys

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Presenters: Fabienne Morgana, Glenys Livingstone, She’D'Montford, Gede Parma, Linda Ward, & Anthorr Nomchong, filmed on December 7th, 2009 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am by Krystie Lees-Smith

Paganism is alive and well in Australia! Join Pagan representatives from around the country in a conversation about the variety of traditions and groups present here
and the community they create together. The discussion will touch on topics of specific relevance to Australian Paganism such as religious tolerance, legal rights, intrafaith
and interfaith connections, and will include a look at the ways that Pagans in Australia are engaging in public outreach through education, service and electronic and
print communications.

Fabienne S Morgana is a Solitary Eclectic Pagan with an ongoing commitment to her spiritual path and journey as well as those of others. Previously an entertainment professional with a Bachelor of Creative Arts, she is an authorised civil celebrant who facilitates across all life events. Fabienne is in the process of completing a Graduate Diploma in Psychology and a Justice of the Peace. She originates from Western
Queensland and now lives in Melbourne.

Glenys Livingstone, PhD (Social Ecology), has Australian country roots, teacher training and an MA in Theology and Philosophy from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, CA, USA. She has been academically and culturally involved in the resurgence of female imagery for the Sacred for over thirty years. She is a celebrant of the annual seasonal rituals and author of ‘PaGaian Cosmology’. Glenys lives in the Blue Mountains with her partner Taffy Seaborne.

She’ D’Montford is a teacher, healer, author, promoter and activist. She is the founding editor of Spellcraft magazine, Australia’s premier periodical for the occult and esoteric. Dr D’Montford is the head of the Australian Shambhallah Awareness Centre Pagan Church and holds an honorary degree in philosophy, specialising in Tibetan and Hindu Shamanism. Her paranormal abilities have been featured on the ground-breaking psychic
reality TV show ‘The One’.

Gede Parma has been an active member of his local Australian Pagan community for years. He is the co-founder of Coven of the WildWood and has contributed Pagan articles to books and e-zines geared toward Pagan young adults. Among his books are ‘Llewellyn’s 2010 Witches’ Companion: An Almanac for Everyday Living’ and ‘Spirited: Taking Paganism Beyond the Circle’.

Linda Ward has been a practising Pagan for over forty years, working mainly as a solitary. She has been actively involved in the Pagan community for over ten years, helping to organise a series of weekend events promoting the celebration of Pagan diversity. She has a Master’s degree in Religious Studies from Queensland University (2003) and is a graduate of Griffith University’s MultiFaith Centre In-Service Development Training Program in Interfaith Dialogue and Understanding.

Anthorr Nomchong is CEO of The Guild of Ancient Mysteries Pty, Ltd. He co-founded the Church of All Worlds, one of the first Pagan churches to gain recognition from the Australian government. Mr Nomchong is also a professional training and coaching consultant and entrepreneur.

Glenys Livingstone She'D'Montford Gede parma Linda Ward Anthorr Nomchong Australian Pagan Panel

This is part of the recordings by Ed Hubbard on Behalf of Magick Tv and Pagan Newswire Collective.

Video of Parliament of the World’s Religions Panel: People Call Us Pagans – The European Indigenous Traditions – December 4, 2009 9:30 am

Presenters: Angie Buchanan, Andras Arthen, Phyllis Curott

From the Program Guide: As the world confronts environmental devestation, we are beginning to appreciate the wisdom of the Indigenous peoples who have lived for thousands of years in sustainable harmony and spiritual connection with the Earth. After hundreds of years of suppression, most Westerners have forgotten that their ancestors once shared this wisdom as the Indigenous traditions of Europe. Today, people are rediscovering the perennial spiritual wisdom of Mother Earth – by living in harmony with nature, we live in harmony with divinity. The panel offers people the opportunity to learn about this forgotten and often misunderstood spirituality. The panel participants. leaders in their respective traditions, will discuss spiritual principles, practices, rites and ceremonies, experiences, values and challenges, including discrimination. We also look forward to a lively discussion with those who are present.

In a special note; This is the beginning of more than 12 hours worth of tape of panels and other materials created at the Parliament. This has been presented from live, uncensored tape. The funding for this project was through Witch School and the Correllian Community exclusively.

Wicca Witch Witchcraft Witchschool PWR Pagan Parliament Melbourne Australia Buchanan Curott Arthan

You can find more Patheos videos, here.
Read more from Don Frew (of COG) at the COG Interfaith Reports blog.

Don Frew, Pagans at the Parliament, Parliament of the World's Religions, Patheos.com

“Indigenous Peoples’ Statement to the World” at the Parliament of the World’s Religions 11:30am – 1:00pm Wednesday, December 9th.

http://witchschool.com/library/Audio_Files/PWRindigenousdeclaration.mp3
Time: 1:23:10

The document will be brought after the Parliament to all of your communities to raise consciousness and increase support for the issues of Indigenous Peoples. Bring your friends and colleagues!

Kind regards,
The International Indigenous Task Force Committee
and The Aboriginal Planning Committee of Melbourne

This is part of the Audio/Video Pagans at the Parliament created on behalf of Magick TV and Pagan Newswire Collective, exclusively funded by Witch School and the Correllian Tradition.

Collective, declaration, Indigenous, News, Newswire, Pagan, Parliament of the World's Religions, people, religion, Wire

This is part of the recordings by Ed Hubbard on Behalf of Magick Tv and Pagan Newswire Collective.

Audio of Parliament of the World’s Religions Panel: People Call Us Pagans – The European Indigenous Traditions – December 4, 2009 9:30 am
Note: 123 MB in Size
Length: 1:30:17

Presenters: Angie Buchanan, Andras Arthen, Phyllis Curott

http://witchschool.com/library/Audio_Files/PWRTheycallUsPagansPanel.mp3

From the Program Guide: As the world confronts environmental devestation, we are beginning to appreciate the wisdom of the Indigenous peoples who have lived for thousands of years in sustainable harmony and spiritual connection with the Earth. After hundreds of years of suppression, most Westerners have forgotten that their ancestors once shared this wisdom as the Indigenous traditions of Europe. Today, people are rediscovering the perennial spiritual wisdom of Mother Earth – by living in harmony with nature, we live in harmony with divinity. The panel offers people the opportunity to learn about this forgotten and often misunderstood spirituality. The panel participants. leaders in their respective traditions, will discuss spiritual principles, practices, rites and ceremonies, experiences, values and challenges, including discrimination. We also look forward to a lively discussion with those who are present.

In a special note; This is the beginning of more than 12 hours worth of tape of panels and other materials created at the Parliament. This has been presented from live, uncensored tape. The funding for this project was through Witch School and the Correllian Community exclusively.

Pagans indigenous traditions curott buchanan arthen parlaiment worlds religions audio panel

Sitting in the Sydney airport, waiting to return to the land that my animal soul comprehends on a deep and resonant level, I wish to type up one more thought. After teaching a group of Tasmanians yesterday, a few of us went for a short hike amongst the tree ferns, myrtles and eucalypts. Dotted here and there in this particular preserve were signs about the local aboriginals. One of my hosts commented that this particular group was not considered aboriginal by the other local groups. “Ah”, I thought, “one cannot get away from this anywhere.”  When asked why, he replied that since people from this particular grouping had intermarried at various points with white settlers (who were brutal settlers, in the beginning), they were no longer considered aboriginal. The subtext is, of course, that they were tainted and no longer pure.

In these conversations about which Pagans are “indigenous” and which are “neo-Pagans” how long is it before indigenous comes to equal authentic and authentic comes to equal pure and pure comes to equal superior?

Yes, definition is often problematic, and identity even more so. I do not need to lay claim to indigenousness. I practice Paganism and magic. I have a nature based (though not strictly earth-based) religion. I have heritage and training, it is true, but more importantly, I have practice, I have my body, I have meditation, I have the sun, the stars, the trees, the water, and you. Leave me to my practice and worship, please. I’m fine with being a 21st century person practicing a religion with ancient ancestry and contemporary innovation. As a person who lives on this land and in this time, among these cities and farms and wild places, how can I really do anything else?

For right now, I will call myself Pagan: one who connects with the non-Dual and the many Gods, with this sweet earth and with the stars far beyond my eye’s ability to reach.

- T. Thorn Coyle

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[Again, this was written while in Tasmania, so my thoughts reflect my experiences there.]

Our lack of intimacy with each other is in direct proportion to our lack of intimacy with the land…the land is love. Love is what we fear.

– Terry Tempest Williams, from The Forests by Matthew Newton and Pete Hay

Let us rethink our definitions of Nature. We are Nature and Nature is ourselves. We are these towering trees, these slow moving clouds, these green rosellas, these echidnas and wolf spiders. We are the sun. We are beyond the sun.

Yesterday, I taught a dedicated group of Tasmanian forest activists some energy and breath techniques to help them in life and in their confrontations with loggers and police. We hiked into old growth forest and did our work at the base of a 1,000 year old myrtle tree.

Afterwards, four of us hiked down – well, scrambled, climbed, slipped, balanced, jumped, crouched, and sometimes crashed down would be more accurate for two of us – an untracked, activist-blazed path to the Weld River. This is a beauty of wild proportions. We drank it’s tannin colored water and ate our lunch on rocks at the bank while small green butterflies chased each other overhead. I began to sing, “Oh, children, let’s go down… down to the river to pray.” One of the men said, “This is our church.” Yes.

Thus began a discussion of disconnection and being part of place. Some of the activists feel that they are not part of great Nature, but rather must work to stop this alienated human destruction of it. I replied that in sensing we are not Nature, we instantiate the rift that causes the logging and wood chipping of the old growth that they are fighting. Alienation and disconnection are the same, whether one thinks humans are superior or inferior to the land, the trees, the animals and the sky.

We need a deep realization that we are one with all of these. That we are the same. That the call of the koorawong is our call. That the rocky outcropping high above the Weld Valley, with its view of clear-cuts, masses of trees, the glorious white of the soaring grey goshawk over the appearing and disappearing shine of river is a vision of the connectedness and disconnectedness of our very lives.

The satisfied grunting of the mother pademelon chewing grass as her joey peaks from the pouch to do the same is little different from a human grunt of enjoyment at a perfectly steamed broccoli floret. The screaming of a raptor and the crying of trees rubbing together is little different from human voices raised high in anger or in lust.

We are Nature. We are of place. We are born. We live. We die.

We are all indigenous to this planet and this solar system. I am indigenous to the state of California. My practices of religion, inspired though they may be by the magic of the ancient tribes of Europe and rooted in the folk practices of the US and the ceremonial practices of the late 19th century are also informed by my animal body responding to the ocean near my home, to the particular quality of light reflected upon hills or buildings, to the strange quirks of weather on the little peninsula at the Golden Gate. Place informs me and I inform place. My practices are no more nor less indigenous than those of any other migrating people. Something that was invented to root us in this particular place or contemporary time is no less authentic for being 40 years or 40 minutes old rather than 4,000.

Some people have religious practices that are indigenous to place. They claim that. I respect this and feel no need to make such claims for myself. Were I to ever leave my beloved San Francisco Bay and the San Andreas Fault for some other land – such as this paradise of Tassie – or some other planet, even, I would be no less part of Nature, no less a thread in the fabric of life and the fabric of God Herself. My soul and body – one in the same right now – are both evolving. We can all evolve. We are all travelers on spaceship earth, whether we call ourselves indigenous or not. We are Nature. We would do well to not forget this.

-T. Thorn Coyle

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[I wrote the following 3 posts while on the road without internet access. They are my reflections on Nature Religion as well as the many conversations about Paganism as “indigenous religion” that happened at the Parliament. I recognize that a lot of discussion has happened on this topic while I was in radio silence. Here are my thoughts nonetheless. Since they were written in stages, there is likely some repetition. Forgive me.]

Sitting here in a cabin in the Huon Bush, I marvel at the beauty of the fern trees and acacia, the fairy wrens and the eucalypts, the pademelons and possums and the sheer stretch of the sacred creature that is this mountain range.

Last night, we went to an exhibit of photos taken by tree-sitters and activists, the sacred warriors who attempt to save the amazing old growth forests of Tasmania from the perils of cable logging and wood chipping. Cable logging is not only deadly for the environment, it is bad capitalism. The huge cables are dragged from the top of the mountain to the bottom, felling every tree in their wake. These trees, weather eucalypts or black hard wood that could be used to hand-craft furniture, are used for chips that are shipped to Japan. But huge amounts – often 70% – of branches and wood are left on the mountain to compost.

Looking upon those pictures of beauty and destruction I thought of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. I thought that these photos should go to Copenhagen. I was also thinking of Barney Zwartz, religion writer from The Age. I told some of the photographers that they should send these pictures and their stories to him with the words, “this is our religion.”

Many of the activists are atheists – “no Gods, no Masters” – and they have a sense of sacred Nature more keen than many Pagans I know. They share similar concerns to the indigenous people who came to the Parliament… which brings me to the argument that was raised in many a conversation: “can and should Pagans call ourselves an indigenous religion?”

I find the statement that Paganism is the indigenous religion of Europe to be problematic. I understand that Andras Corban-Arthen – who speaks quite eloquently on the subject – has filed us into three categories (reconstructionist, indigenous and neo-Pagan)  and truly feels that his tradition is reviving traditions from remnants of the old. Many of us are. Feri Tradition, for example, is an American Pagan tradition that draws upon many sources – Victor Anderson’s gnosis for one, Cora Anderson’s Appalachian folk traditions some of which came from her rootworker grandfather for another, plus hoodoo, some other influences from the African diaspora and Latin America, and finally, eventually, Wicca and some Celtic religious influence (of course the Celtic influences were already present in the Appalachian magic). Just as most Americans are mixtures of bloodlines and heritages, so most “American” traditions spring from a variety of sources. Does this make us ‘indigenous’ because Victor and Cora both had access to and practiced folk traditions, revitalizing them with other sources and their own wisdom? Or does this make us a “new religious movement” because most of us don’t claim some unbroken line? Victor and Cora were always clear that the small dark people’s of the world carried the magic of the world. They were also clear that humans all came from Africa and shared common ancestry and that magic was as old as humanity. They called what we did, simply, “the Craft.”

Folk traditions and magic have survived all over the world – in Scotland, in Lithuania, in Japan – and in some cases do have a fairly unbroken line of a coherent teaching despite oppression and slaughter. In other cases, fragments have been passed down in stories or spells, kept alive in families – as was the case with Cora Anderson and many others. I feel that most of us from the European Pagan Traditions are in the latter camp. As Patrick McCollum pointed out in conversation, even those coming at this only from books are sharing in the wealth of those who have had direct teaching. Each of us also must practice deeply, share in the mysteries of the Earth and the Gods, and be informed by our own observances.

I think calling ourselves indigenous religions is problematic on many levels. First, it lays claim to an unbroken, coherent tradition, when most of us have fragments. Second, it runs the risk of laying claim to the same conditions that our indigenous brothers and sisters are currently struggling with in their fights for reparations, the right to practice freely, the right to fish or have their own sacred lands, and the right for autonomy of their nations. We have no nation, even those of us who claim to trace unbroken lines of magic. We are surviving fragments, or revitalizing (a word Andras uses nicely) old ways for a new time. Third, it sets up a hierarchy of “authenticity” where “authenticity” is always going to have a superior air about it. What is inauthentic about a tree-sitter spending years of her life to save a stand of trees? She does not call herself indigenous. He does not even call himself Pagan. But I would say there is a spiritual sense, and a case could even be made for calling it a religion. There are rituals for entering the forest and erecting the platforms, there are protocols for what materials can be used and which are forbidden. There is communion with earth, sky, rain, trees, animals, and wind. There is connection: re-ligio.

We are good enough as we are: Pagans. Nature Religionists. Ordinary Mystics.

- T. Thorn Coyle

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What an awesome gathering of beings. For me it was one long ritual – a sacred Journey. I only slept 5 hours each day – focussed on being present to it all as much as possible. I walked kilometers every day just getting from one program to another, and walking long distances just to catch someone for a moment … then along the way meeting up with long lost or never before met cyberfriends: it was intense.

I was deeply impressed by the Indigenous presence – of many global places, and including the representation from my own Old European – Pagan – tradition and heritage. I attended many of the programs where Indigenous elders spoke and shared worldviews and various issues were discussed. Notable programs that I attended were “People Call Us Pagan: The European Indigenous Traditions”, “The Doctrine of Discovery and Indigenous Peoples”, “The Revival of the European Pagan Religions” and a session by elders of the Yoruba and Voodoo traditions “Veneration of the Ancestors”. One of the presenters in this latter session was Ifaboyede Michelle McElwaine Oguninhun Abimbola, a lecturer at the Ifa Heritage Institute in Oyo, Nigeria where she is also an assistant to the president. She holds degrees in Religious and Women’s Studies and a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics. In Oyo, Nigeria, Ifaboyede was initiated as an Iyanifa, priestess of Ifa, and she is actively involved in the practice and propagation of Ifa. She also has an extensive background as an anti-racism/cultural competency trainer. Such impressive CVs were common at this PWR gathering. She and her partner, Baba Wande Abimbola who moderated the session, had their baby with them throughout – no problem.

The Indigenous Assembly – about 10 indigenous elders – presented a charter at the closing ceremony, amongst which was a request for an official recanting of the “Doctrine of Discovery” … very important I think, a re-instatement of the integrity of the Mother, the Land in Her Native state, our Source of being. This to my mind, is what Paganism is about … do some “Pagans” forget this?

The presence of those I regard as elders of my own Old European heritage – and their proud restoration of the term “Pagan”, was very significant for me. I was deeply moved by the EarthSpirit Ceremony “Peace at the Heart of the World”, especially when Andras Corban Arthen chanted the blessing in Gaelic. I felt it as a Homecoming. I wept as I embraced Andras and thanked him on behalf of my ancestors who came to this Southern Land – Australia, my home – as an already conquered people who had had this heritage stolen from them. I was also impressed by the senstivity and flexibility of this group and other Northern Hemispheric Pagans to be present to our different season and elemental directions – prepared to ask and act accordingly. A woman with the voice of Goddess sang at a ceremony facilitated by Patrick McCollum, and she called the directions in accord with our place with such grace.

I had imagined that the PWR would be dominated by mainstream religious entities swanning around, but this was not the case: there were many beautiful dancers and artists from many traditions, and the Pagan and Indigenous presence was strong – and this apparently was a new situation especially for the Pagan contingent. This was the result of work over past years, as has been noted on this blog – Angie Buchanan and others speaking up and taking responsibility for becoming a credible part of this global forum – to become recognised as the Indigenous tradition of Old Europe. I came away prepared to be more consciously part of this restoration of the term “Pagan” … this was an unexpected outcome for me.

I felt that “Goddess” as Earth Mother had the final say at the event, when in the closing ceremony She – as Mother Earth – was invoked by both Elder Prof Joy Wandin Murphy and Elder Bob Randell, and all present were given painted stones with blessings mentioning Her as we left the assembly.

My own presentations on the 7th December (as Pagan presenter in “The New Archaic” and as a co-presenter of “Australian Pagans Speak”) were very well received, and the rooms were overflowing. My co-presenters and I for the New Archaic were stopped frequently by people in the days following to thank us for a great presentation … one told us it was in the top 100.

The whole experience of such a gathering is hard to capture and will require many viewpoints and ponderings. The harvest of it will be rich I am sure – in personal ways and in communal feedback and global involvement/action.

Glenys Livingstone

Indigenous, Pagan, Parliament World Religions