this is something I’ve been debating in my mind for a while. J and I are going to be moving back to my home state, and I’ve come to the realization that I can’t hide our change of religion forever.

No one besides my parents and J’s parents and I think one of his siblings know that I’m pagan, he’s agnostic. But I feel like people should know, at least for the sake of me being intellectually honest with them. I don’t know how to do it. I guess I could go the easy route and post my religion in my profile on Facebook… just kidding. I wouldn’t want to deal with the backlash from that.

There’s so many aspects of what will happen when I come out that I don’t know how to do it. J’s and my parents are all christians, heavily involved in ministry. My grandparents are all heavily involved in churches, my friends back home are all involved in church. I could end up very much alone if I come out. There will also be a stigma attached to my parents, I think. People may think less of them in the christian community because I “don’t believe” and christianity seems to place a large emphasis on social conformity. My dad teaches parenting classes in his church- will people think less of him because his daughter left his faith?

I am afraid to come out Pagan.

I am afraid of what people will do and say. I am worried about conversion attempts, awkward silences after I tell them, worried about prayers over holiday meals that go on and on and on about the baby jesus and redemption and witchcraft is a sin… I’d almost rather come out about my pansexuality than come out Pagan.

This issue is a lot more in depth than I had supposed. I am going to have to take some time and work though it, giving some background on my religious experiences as a christian, and working through exactly what I believe as a Pagan so I can be forthright about the whole thing.

Here’s the deal: I grew up in a very calvinist, intellectual sort of christianity. I will give a little bit of my history in the next post, Coming Out Pagan Pt Deux.

A year ago, I couldn’t really imagine when I’d be out of the broom closet to my family.  I didn’t want them thinking that I’d gone off the deep end or was even having a mid-life crisis, so I tried to be very circumspect in my attempts to learn about and put my pagan beliefs into practice.  I guess I’ve been quite successful, because my husband and kids all know now that I consider myself to be pagan, and I think they’re all quite comfortable with it. 

This is probably why I have been posting much less frequently—a year ago I definitely needed the outlet of this blog as basically my only means of communication about my thoughts and feelings, but now that I can be more free with my words and actions around home, I’ve needed to blog less and less.  I did, in fact, come to the point about a month ago of considering taking my blog down, but I’ve decided to keep it here for the foreseeable future so that anyone else out there who is going through what I went through spiritually over the last year or two may find my posts and find some emotional support. 

I also intend to continue posting here, although I think the subject matter may become more diverse and time is always an issue September-June due to my workload during those months.  As I will continue to teach in a Catholic school over the next year, I am sure there will be interactions with students, co-workers, and the boss that I’ll want to reflect on here.  And as I continue to study and forge ahead on this spiritual path, I know that I will want to continue using this blog as a record of my journey.

There is no more accepting and non-judgmental group than my family. My family is a network of support. In times of trouble and in times of peace we are there for one another. To lend a commiserating ear or a shoulder to cry on, to lend a book or share a recipe, to give advice or remain steadfastly, understandingly silent. We gather every Friday to eat dinner, talk, laugh, play games, watch TV, work on projects, whatever.

Religiously it is the same. My mother is a Christian who believes that the original faith has changed over the years and that some of the most important tennents of Christ’s teachings have been lost or ignored. Before I was born she was in training to be a Spiritualist minister. My father is agnostic, making a vague circling gesture with his hand when asked about a higher power. Unless you talk to my grandmother, then he’s Luthren. My uncle comes from a house of fundimentalist Christianity and has a resultant distaste for all religion, though he has become far less angry over the years. My aunt is an ecclectic pagan with ideas based in many traditions. My family at large is an accepting group with a profoiund appreciation for all things spiritual.

My study in Witchcrft was niether unexpexted nor discouraged and I became comfortable with defining myself as a pagan in general and a Witch in particular with the blessing of my family.

This is what I think seperates me from other Teen Witches. Most of the people I have heard of in the ‘broom closet’ were hiding from their families. I however have never hidden from my family nor felt the need to. It’s the rest of the world that worries me.

I have a few close friends who are aware of my spirituality but no one I don’t know well and trust implicitly. When asked about my religion I tend to obfuscate or redirect. The idea of being… known… makes me feel as I imagine seasickness would feel.

I wonder how people would react. With questions, curiosity, a desire to understand? Or with fear, trepidation, whispers? I cannot know the outcome all I can do is face the future and deal with the consequences. The helplessness frightens me. But I also feel constricted by my secrecy and, almost guilty at having kept my beliefs from people I call my friends.

I know that the time for me to leave the broom closet, despite my fears. I will walk out of that closet, with no fanfare or loud pronouncments but with an honest willingness the share this part of myself that I did not previously possess.

Lughnassadh/Lammas is probably one of my favorite holidays.  Well, they’re all favorites.  But this particular upcoming holiday has warm and fuzzy feelings associated with it.

Lammas is the height of summer.  A lot of times here in upstate New York, the last sabbat, Litha, gets rained out.  Or its freezing.  But this holiday – it usually actually feels like summer.

Lammas is all about Passion.  Passion for what you love and passion to try new things.  To me, it is about being and becoming yourself in the deepest possible ways.  It is about remembering to enjoy this life that you’re given.

It’s also the bread festival, and one of the festivals which can mark the death of the God, depending on which tradition you follow with.

In the tradition of Jesus(or perhaps, the other way around) – Lugh the sun god of the Celts gives his life too maintain life and sunlight on the earth.  Beyond that, in Wiccan and a lot of earth and goddess centered traditions, the Goddess is growing more and more pregnant.  At Yule, she will give birth, thereby completing the cycle of birth/death/rebirth.

Practically, it is the bread festival.  The wheat is harvested – if you hadn’t noticed – and bread is made and celebrated, signalling the first harvest.  For those of you that follow along a goal setting path, this is the first harvest – that time to harvest your physical gifts which you have worked so hard for.

So how do we celebrate?  For those of us completely in the closet – making your own bread(there is yeastless bread and easy-to-make bread for those inept in a kitchen, like myself) and maybe your own mead(alcoholic or non-alcoholic) are quiet ways to note the passing.

Incorporating those actions into ritual and dance, and perhaps taking time to drive down some country roads are other, equally respectable ways to celebrate the passing of this particular holiday.

However you celebrate on August 1st, may it be a safe and happy holiday.

Blessed Be!

It seems to me that people are a lot more concerned about being in the broom closet than they used to. I keep reading articles about how to “come out” – articles sporting what I consider really bad advice. Lose the victim attitude people! Most people who are supposedly “in the closet” have very little to worry about. Those who are really, do, and must weigh the options before announcing themselves. “Out” is not for everyone.

It’s okay for people to not like your religion

What? Shock! Outrage! Most neo-pagans are so quick to stand-up against those who are ignorant of them yet put down Christianity at every opportunity. I find many of my peers to be hypocritical.

There’s a reason we choose the religion we do – it’s because we think ours is right, is best, is most fulfilling. There’s nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, it is not right to insult other religions and to impose upon everyone else’s right to choose, but that doesn’t always stop others. Often enough it’s best to take preventative measures by not bringing up religion at all. This is not due to us “fearing our Pagan roots”. It’s about knowing best when to speak and when to keep silent.

There’s a difference between privacy and the broom closet!

Our religion is an important and private part of our lives. It’s personal. There should be things you don’t want to run your mouth off to others. Do you talk explicitly about your sex life to others – I hope not. It’s just as crass as talking incessantly about your religion.

In the broom closet at the workplace? Impossible. Everyone should be in the closet there – it’s none of their business. Work is a completely inappropriate place to discuss matters of such personal importance. Keep your private life private.

Who’s in the broom closet, anyway?

Bad news – just people around you don’t know you’re a Witch/Pagan/Gay doesn’t mean you’re in the closet.

You’re in the closet:

• if you’re making a real, desperate effort to hide the truth from your spouse and/or immediate family
• if you regularly lie about it, put on an act that compromises you integrity, makes you feel ashamed of yourself after (like going to Church when you don’t believe, like a gay man carrying on a relationship with a woman for the sake of appearances)
• if you are really afraid of what others will think

I think that most of the above are real psychological problems that have to be dealt with – they can really hamper us and make us unhappy.

I can’t help but feel that those in the closet – really in the closet – need to work on their self-perception and self-confidence before really coming out. They also need to work on their relationships – if a person doesn’t respect you enough to make your own life choices, are they really a healthy contributor to your life?

Even worse, if those people are your parents or siblings or lovers, do you love them so much that maybe it’s worth lying to them? I really think that this is an unfortunate but understandable option.

Sometimes discretion is polite and considerate

My extended family has no idea of my religion choices, although I can feel somewhat certain that at least half of them would mind their own business. The other half would be ultra-concerned. My grandmother would probably have been very frightened for me – it always upset her that I was never baptised as a child, because that meant I would never go to heaven. I never told her of  my religion because I loved her. I keep quiet to save my family from their own ignorance and paranoia.

I never told my parents when I was younger, I didn’t want to hear from them that it was stupid, or a phase. I also didn’t know how to define this new area of interest to them in a way they’d understand. They’d have worried someone was going to take advantage of me.

Over the years, my mother hs interrupted me during ritual, seen different items and books in my bedroom, and has seen me erect those very things in my own appartment. We’ve never directly discussed what those things meant and at this time I don’t feel we need to. She respects my privacy and trusts my judgement to not be involved with the wrong sort of crowd. Whether she’s discussed it with my father I have no idea.

I’ve told my brothers that I call myself Pagan and Witch. All of my best friends know, some care and understand more than others. A few past co-workers-turned-good-aquaintances know. I’m involved with the local pagan community. My partner is not Pagan but accepts that I am – he’s even participated in rituals with me.

I don’t consider myself to be in the broom closet even though most people I speak to on a daily basis have no idea.

The Broom Closet is a bad place to be.

It’s not bad because people are stifling your religious rights, but because it makes a person feel small, unimportant and unloved. I think it’s also a very difficult situation to get out of.

A lot of people complain they’re in the closet and can’t be open about their religion. Being open doesn’t mean having it tattooed to your forehead or showing off excessive amounts of jewelry. When the subject comes up in an important situation, you should be able to discuss your values with those important to you without being degraded.

There are those who don’t come out of the closet because it’ll overturn the lives of those around them and themselves. These people have difficult decisions to make and for the most part might be better off hiding their spiritual life from those who wouldn’t understand.

Others don’t come out because they’re afraid to defend themselves, because they can’t handle negative reactions. People are allowed to react negatively and often enough they mean well. Neo-pagans must adjust to this. It will make them wiser and better all-around people.

To those who write article about coming out of the closet, stop sprouting suggestions like it’s easy as pie. Everyone’s situation is different and there are some good reasons to really be in the closet. There are many more reasons to be discreet and moderate. Shouting “I am Pagan, hear me roar!” from the rooftops will never help our collective pagan situation.

We shouldn’t be pushing our our peers our peers to come out. We cannotunderstand just how different their circumstances are from ours. Instead, live your life and speak of your craft as though you were speaking on behalf of all Pagans and Witches. Let those who wish to remain silent be so.

Once upon a time in a land of kings and queens and farmers and priests there was a division.  Some people ruled and some people worked.  The ruling class went about their lives thinking about the here and now.  There wasn’t really any way that they’d be dealt a better hand in the next life or that they’d ever have a chance at enjoying their next life more than their current one because they were in charge and really didn’t have to work.  On the other hand, the farmers and merchants knew that they’d been dealt the work card this life and so they worried about doing what was right spiritually in order to have a better next life.  They also didn’t really have much else to lean on for happiness because their days were almost always similar to the day before.  They didn’t have the money or time to run around the country or going to great balls or anything that the ruling class took for granted.  Granted, this simpler life had many good things about it and many of the ruling class would gladly have given up their nobility for a chance to be free from responsibilities other than getting food on the table, but in general the noble class led a far more carefree/workless life and seemed far more concerned with living life to the fullest.

These working class people are what Pagan refers to.  The term Pagan refers to the people that dwelled in the hills and still practiced the old beliefs when Christianity had claimed the cities.  It seems that this stigma of Pagans never being able to be wealthy has lived on for thousands and thousands of years.  It’s really a strange predicament because Paganism requires that the individual study the subject on their own, that they do their own research and look to themselves for guidance.  It requires a person to be independent, and yet every Pagan I’ve ever met has had trouble paying the bills at one time or another.

One theory could be that Pagans are not afraid to stand out by wearing Pentagrams or dark makeup or those absolutely trendy cloaks (who knows…maybe they’re hiding their swords under them…) to Wal-Mart to pick up a gallon of milk.  Maybe it’s that when people think of Pagans they think about the guys/girls that do this and immediately think that Paganism requires every one of its believers to wear cloaks daily and so they shouldn’t be hired as a doctor or lawyer because they’d scare away the clients.  Who knows?  There’s a part of me that wants to be the happy idealist and say that a person should be able to wear whatever they want to wear…but the realist in me has to step in and explain that these people aren’t getting themselves anywhere and are definitely not getting the Pagan community anywhere.  I just don’t know what to do about that one.

Maybe it’s the fact that people that are raised in middle-class to upper-class families are told that conformity is important and therefore Christianity is brought into the picture from an early age.  I disagree that conformity is important but can see where parents would want their children to have an easy life and being Pagan simply isn’t the easiest possibility.  I understand this as well as the fact that in our parents’ day there simply wasn’t any tolerance of anything other than Christianity.  You were Christian or not, there really weren’t any other religions (other than Judaism I guess).

Then there’s always the option that there are tons of Pagans out there that are extremely wealthy but that know that if their beliefs got out that they’d be ostracized by their circles.  I can agree with this because I’m one of these people (minus the extremely wealthy part) and there will be a time in my life where I’ll definitely have no problem paying the bills (woohoo engineering degree…), and the only way that these people will come out of the broom closet will be when the world accepts them for their beliefs.  I’d speculate that the current numbers are simply a poor representation of the actual demographics.  It’d be more of a Legendary Poor Pagan Who Came Out of the Broom Closet.

Then there’s always the extremely common trend that the lower the income, the more spirituality plays a part in someone’s life.  It’s always been this way.  Pagans originally were the country folk, and the majority of the Catholic Church was the poor city dwellers.  Granted everyone was Christian in Europe because if not you got injured/killed, but the truly spiritual were the poor people and the extremely wealthy (think Tom Cruise…) who didn’t have to worry about anything but the next life.  I think that that’s the current trend as well.  No one cares what Bill Gates’ religious preference is, and you’d never hear about his contributions to a Church.  Not only are the upper classes less spiritual, they’ve embraced science as their religion which is good enough for most of them from what I’ve seen.

The most logical reason I can think of is that Pagan values are different from Rat-Race America.  Pagans look for happiness in life more than bigger TV’s and faster cars (though I really really want a viper), and can be happy without one-upping the next door neighbors.  I think that this is important, but there comes a time when people have to realize that they really should work towards being able to pay for their children’s college as well as do all the things they want to do.  I’ve met far too many Pagans that constantly complain about how they’d love to travel and see the world but it’s just too expensive, and yet they are failing massage therapists because they don’t advertise or do any of the business aspects of having their own practices.  People have to accept that they live in a world dominated by good businessmen and that the only way to be a business owner is to be good at it…whether you’re a massage therapist or a Witchy shop owner or you run a massive business like Whole Foods.  Sorry for that digression but as I was saying, Pagans rarely feel the need to make enormous amounts of money and are happier working in a field that they enjoy rather than make a big pay check so they can be miserable 70 hours a week at their job.  Totally understandable, and I’m not totally sure what to do about this one.  I still think it’s got to lie in the business aspect of it.

I don’t really know what to do about this stigma.  The only way I can see things changing is for television/marketing/advertising to change and make people more aware of alternative religions/spiritualities much like they did with alternative sexualities.  There are still plenty of people that don’t like gay people, but no one can deny that they’re there and in extremely large numbers.  People may be looked at differently but there are still doctors, lawyers, CEO’s, and big business men and women who are gay while I really can’t name too many famous Pagan big business people (there may be some in the health food market but I don’t know of any by name).  There’s also the fact that many Pagans are Pagan for shock value and that’s absolutely detrimental to the Pagan community as a whole.  We are a very intelligent bunch and there’s absolutely no reason why we should be barely scraping by.  Not only that, but it makes it harder for Middle Class America to accept that their neighbors are Pagan and that’s totally cool when the only Pagans they’ve ever met are the janitor, the creepy shop owner downtown next to the hair salon, the hippy guy on the street, and the woman working the Wal-Mart check out that wears a Pentagram the size of a small child (Pagan Flava Flave anyone?).  Give me some thoughts on this one.  And sorry for the length.

Welcome to my first day away! Here is number nine.

The Only Difference Between Skyclad and Not, Is What Burns First

Well, that one is pretty much…we’ve all been there. You knock over a candle or bring that incense a little too close to your skin, and suddenly you’re cursing the Charge of the Goddess, which boldly states that to be free, we must be skyclad in our rites.

For those visiting, I’d like to explain a bit. “Skyclad” is the witch-word for naked as the day you were born. We ideally practice skyclad. This is in part based on Gerald Gardner’s exclamation in Witchcraft Today that the energy from our rites functions better when it exudes off of our skin, instead of being trapped underneath clothes. A lot of public pagan rites tend to favor medieval dress, probably because it’s nice looking, obscure enough, and makes us feel pretty.

Skyclad is surprisingly hard to achieve when you’re a city witch, or not quite independent – in college, or living with other people who don’t share your views (parents, sexual partner, etc). The room you’re occupying always has a chance to be knocked upon, even if you tell them you’re trying to sleep, and nothing disturbs a good, bare ass naked meditation like cheering from the next room as the Yankees hit another home run.

But even beyond that, when a skyclad ritual is headed towards successful, there are infinite more dangers to be aware of. The dresser that sits behind you has corners that are a lot more painful on your bare skin than they are behind a padding of denim. And most importantly? The candles. I’ve usually got at least 7 going – three on the altar, and one in each direction. That’s a lot of heat, and in a small room, that’s a lot of chance for hair or skin to get caught on fire. Even hot wax can hit sensitive bits of your body, or burning ash from incense.

Number One of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Number Two of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Number Three of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Number Four of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Number Five of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Number Six of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Number Seven of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Number Eight of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Number Nine of the Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

Top Ten Things A Witch Learns Over Time « Pagan Pages.

On the way out of our hotel room, we spied into the open door of the broom closet.

The broom closet of our Mallorca hotel

The cleaning lady was out cleaning the guests’ hotel rooms and had left the door to the broom closet open.

Care for a little liqueur?

What did we see but this bottle of booze and two glasses.

There it was, right between the rolls of toilet paper and the cleaning rags.

Ah well, nothing like a little alcohol to help remove tough stains…

The broom closet is a term, similar to the metaphor used by the gay community, that refers to someone who keeps their Pagan beliefs and practices hidden from their friends, family and the general public. The reason for the secrecy (outside early periods of spiritual adjustment) is usually fear – fear of prejudice, fear of violence, fear losing the comforts that appearing ‘normal’ can afford us.

It has been a long time since the Satanic witchcraft scare of the 80s put everyone who was even slightly outside the socially accepted ‘norm’ under a microscope. Very few of us now need fear for our lives or our safety because we are not ‘good little Christians’. The twentieth century saw many people fighting an uphill battle so that modern Pagans would feel comfortable celebrating their holy days in public, and discussing their beliefs openly.

This freedom has lead to a great many people claiming that the need for the secrecy and protection of the broom closet is gone, and that to remain hidden in plain sight is selfish and does nothing but hurt the Pagan Community as we fight the last remnants of misinformation that float around society. To me, this seems to be a rather sheltered viewpoint.

The prejudice and hate has not gone completely away. People are still living with constant harassment … they still lose their jobs, their homes, their friends and sometimes even their children to a society that seems to have a hard time accepting that anyone who has turned away from a mainstream, Abrahamic faith could be a good, competent person.

Now, granted, these things do not happen everywhere. Those of us who live on the coasts of North America seem to enjoy a little bit more freedom to express ourselves. However, even here the fear of oppression lies just beneath the surface.

Looking at any issue of controversy within the Pagan Community illustrates this vividly – dark magic, hexes, blood, sacrifices, Satanism, etc. All these topics tend to bring out the attitude that the old ways are misguided and now that we have more options and information available to us, they are unnecessary at best, immoral at worst.

This may seem like the hallmark of the fluff bunny, but they are not to blame in this instance. There seem to be far more Pagans that I realized who change and omit rites and practices for fear of causing a backslide of acceptance for the rest of the Pagan Community. They seem to believe that by watering down their faith, they can gain the ‘ok’ from mainstream society. It saddens me that otherwise rational, level headed Pagans would cower at the mysteries because they cannot be forced into neat, easily understood boxes, ready for the consumption of the masses.

When we allow ourselves to be told that our traditional practices are barbaric or evil, simply because they may not be pretty or easy, THAT is when we begin to lose the ground that our elders fought so hard for. When we would prefer to change, rather than explain, for fear that our inquisitors may just not ‘get it’, we start that trek back to the broom closet. The road of fear, secrecy, lies and outrageous rumours ends in a church pew, where pretend devotion keeps up the appearance of normality.

The trip from the broom closet needs to remain a one way street. Part of being ready to come out is that you are no longer willing to allow conventional wisdom to dictate what is and is not acceptable beliefs and behaviour.

Now, I am not saying that everyone who is ‘out’ needs to be an activist or public educator or that they cannot have private lives. What they do need to be is true to themselves, and their path. The fact that someone might see should not be a deciding factor in how your practice your craft. The fact that some may not understand should not limit the symbols you use or the deities you call to.

We all turned to this path because there was something missing in modern secular and/or Christian culture … because ‘normal’ was not good enough.

::Essay Copyright of Phae Talon 2004 – please do not reproduce without permission, but feel free to link with impunity::

Well, I am about to roll up my sleeves and see about straightening out this broom closet of mine!  What do I mean by broom closet?  Well, I am a witch and this is my way of saying I am taking a step on the wild side.   It is not easy for someone to say they are a follower of a religion that is off the beaten path.  Let’s face it… most of this country is Judeo-Christian based.  I am not saying that I am against them at all.  I just prefer to throw in a few female dieties to balance all the male hormones energy running around!  Why limit yourself to just one god when there are thousands to choose from.  Each god or goddess is endowed with aspects or qualities that you might want to invite into your daily life.  If you need a little compassion or you feel you need to start learning how to be compassionate… study and meditate with Kuan Yin. 

To learn more about a God/dess visit: www.godchecker.com

Let’s face it. A lot of pagans and wiccans and everyone in between can easily take offense to something that you didn’t mean as offensive! Maybe you didn’t ask before you touched something of theirs, or you said something the wrong way, and suddenly you’ve got a group of angry crackheads bearing down on you.

Not that pagans are angry crackheads…I just got carried away with the imagery. Anyhow, the point is, if you’re new to the path and you’re looking for a group or an event to be openly pagan in, there are some basic, usually standard rules that you have to adhere to. Please correct me if there’s anything to add or to disagree with, but generally, the entire etiquette can be summed up to respect.
a big thing that is true in paganism across cultural boundaries is to ask before you touch. We often energize our items to be sensitive to what we want them to do, and your interference without our permission will upset us. Ask, or wait until we offer a tool or amulet for your inspection.

In the same manner, ask before you touch us. We often can become upset by invasions into our personal privacy. It may disrupt our focus, it may disrupt our aura.

Do not ever, ever, ever, introduce someone by their real name at a pagan event. Use the name that they are using for themselves, or simply allow them to introduce themselves. If someone is not super open about themselves, introducing them as their real name will upset them. A lot.

Have you ever seen a pagan politician where you live? Openly? I haven’t. But, through a little bit of research, I found a very interesting issue arising in Maine regarding pagan politicians. After a little bit of secondary research, I received a background on the issue – and then, had a chance to briefly interview a man directly involved.

As it was told to me, the entire thing began when, after the passing of a legislator in a skiing accident, the arguments between the Democratic and Republican candidates for the position became heated, with the Dem. candidate arguing very strongly for Pro-Choice, in response to the Rep. candidate arguing the opposite. The Dem. candidate won by a landslide.

Not a few weeks later, an article was published in The Christian Civic Leagues’ RECORD regarding the Democratic County Chair, Rita Moran, and more or less ‘outed’ her to the world. You’ll note that the Christian Civic League kindly included the majority of Rita’s contact information. (How nice!)

After speaking to Edward Lachowicz earlier today, he did mention that Rita wanted nothing to do with the ‘controversy’ while it was happening, and he doubted that she wanted nothing to do with it now.

As it turns out, the majority of people turned against the CCL. In fact, if you look (or want to donate!) at their ActBlue page, you can see that in response, pagans and other outraged members of communities offered monetary aid in case of financial hardship resulting from the entire issue. All across the internet, google-ing “Pagan Politician Rita Moran” or something similar will pull up hundreds of comments of support. Unfortunately, the story dropped off the face of the earth in mid-July, and so I gave the vice-chair, Edward, a call earlier today to discuss the matter.

According to him, he outed himself soon after on a blog, and it was immediately picked up and reiterated on the CCL’s page. Similarly, they included his personal information.(How nice!)

Rita Moran and Edward Lachowicz were not strangers to the political forefront prior to the CCL’s articles. Rita Moran has been the County Chair since 2005, and Edward himself, although achieving the Vice-Chair post recently, had served with Rita in other political realms since 2004.

Thankfully, neither Rita nor Edward received any intimidation, pranks, or other malicious actions with the posting of their information on the internet. When asking him if it bothered either of them to be outed like that, he had this to say:

“Rita freaked out…she wasn’t sure how the party was going to respond…but luckily, the party came out in full support of her. And, as far as I know, her business hasn’t taken any hits at all.”

According to Mr. Lachowicz, there was an attempt by the CCL to invade the Maine Pagan Pride Day festival and use it as ammo. He explained that everyone was alright with the CCL present, taking pictures…until they tried to take pictures of the guest and sign-in books, which no one liked. A few people asked the photographer to leave, and eventually he did, crafting this article in response.

I am so proud of both the internet pagan community in response to this, as well as the Maine pagan community’s response. Edward quoted the 13 principles in his own response to my questions, “We show no animosity towards Christianity…” and explained that he doesn’t mind being openly pagan.

I did ask him if he thought the exact same response would occur in a different community than his own. He told me that, to be honest, he didn’t know – but he could hope.

There are great pagans everywhere. Don’t be afraid to rally the troops if you find yourself in a similar situation. This just proves how loyal we are – across town, county, state, and any other lines that you can draw.

He did ask me that if there were any additional questions or comments, to forward them to him. So, comment away!