A New Jersey evangelical Fed Ex driver left a Chick Tract with the wrong witch in New Jersey according to an article in the Mount Olive Chronicle. Trish Reynolds, a Pagan author (of such books as The Demons of Drey (Seeker's Quest) and A Question of Balance ) looked out her window one day to see a Fed Ex Driver do a double take at her "Goddess Bless America" and pentagram bumper sticker, return to his truck and come back to put a Chick Tract on her window. If you've ever read one of those rags you know how offensive they are. The list of ridiculous claims made by these is huge (and Wikipedia has such a huge discussion on this subject) She could have just thrown it out, but she's not that kind of witch. She complained and insisted on action. My kind of woman.
More info about Trish Reynolds and her projects can be found at her website http://www.zyalia.com/

I am a firm believer that garb has its place, and jeans have theirs. I admit it I'm a closet fashion junky (you'd never know it meeting me, I know) If you're a fan of reality TV you might be interested in checking out What Not to Wear on TLC this Friday as it features a Salem witch whose witchy wardrobe is put on "trial" (Salem witch trial style) by other members of the Pagan and psychic community, including Christian Day one of the voices of the Hex Education podcast the driving force behind Salem's annual Festival of the Dead before she is whisked off to New York for the usual makeover business. You can find all the dirt at the Glouster Times website.

According to HeraldNet, A missing woman in Washington is believed to have been murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend, who happens to be Wiccan, apparently. I don't want to comment on this much more because it is unpleasant, but I will say this- If you read the article, you will find that neighbors upon questioning admitted to hearing a "loud and violent confrontation between a man and a woman" in her apartment FOUR DAYS before she was reported missing by her employers because she show up for work!! WTF people? Why do people not call the cops when this shit goes down? WTF I say.

I often complain about the sad state our society is in that people don't know their neighbors, don't check up on their neighbors, don't show any concern for their neighbors. It's amazing to me that up north where there are acres, and sometimes miles between houses people know more about their neighbors than in places where we're practically on top of each other in apartments and McMansions and trailers. Remember this poor woman the next time you ignore the screams from the apartment upstairs.

If you're a fan of The Wicker Man, you'll be excited to know that there's a sequel in the works, starring Sir Christopher Lee (as it should) called Cowboys for Christ it's based on a book by the same title by Robin Hardy.

If you think earth works and giant images in sides of mountains are only remnants of the ancient past, check out the proposed Green Goddess of the North to be installed by a mining company in Northumberland in the UK.

The community was also abuzz in the past weeks over a tourist trap in the UK posting a well-paying position for a witch. If you're interested, check out the website and be ready to prove that you're witchier than anyone else in on-site auditions on July 28th.

In more employment news out of the UK, Pagan police officers are now guaranteed time off for Pagan High Days. A Pagan Police Association is also in the works. Nice one, UK! I wonder if the the Wookey Hole Witch will get Sabbats off. Somehow I doubt it.

By the way, if you're interested in the status of Pagan police officers in the United States, check out Officers of Avalon.

Not all of the news out of Europe is good this cycle. Vasily Chervoni, a Ukrainian politician was struck by lightening and killed on a fishing trip. I'm sure someone somewhere is going to have a field day with that one!

Not all of the news is out of Europe! Gulf Islanders celebrated a Nordic Festival earlier this month.

... and our own Jonathan Sharkey, the Vampyre King (remember the candidate from the Vampyre Witches & Pagan Party which, alas, does not seem to have a website) is on his way to Indianapolis Jail on harassment charges. It seems he thought he was being pursued by a vampire hunter.

Meanwhile, a Connecticut community is puzzling over various ritual items that have been found in various places around town. Weird stuff and, unlike some reports of ritual activity that is more like crazy people than magick-users, this seems to be actual ritual activity.

Here's a look at some news of interest to the Pagan community at large:

As with just about any Pagan holiday, the summer solstice seems to be an invitation for the media to take note that Pagans exist. This year, Pagans in Russia got some attention as did a few in Texas. And of course, we cannot forget Stonehenge

As a Neo-Hellenic Polytheist, I am always fascinated with news coming out of Greece and a fellow member of the Hellenic Pagan Yahoo group posted a great article about connecting with Poseidon in Athens and another one that got me even more excited about shows performed at the open air amphitheater at Epidaurus. I was excited because I've been there, though I didn't get to see a show. I am not sure there were shows back then. But I'm ready to head back to Greece at the first opportunity.

I'm not sure how I feel about this article about sex offenders. The offenders interviewed just happen to be Pagan, but that's not what the article is about. I've always thought our sex offender laws needed a bit of an overhaul and maybe they do, but that is one heck of a loaded topic. Kudos to the journalist who tackled it, but I'm not sure he got to the point. How should sex offenders be dealt with? And more to the point of Witchmoot, how should the Pagan community address this issue?