PaganSquare.com - WitchesAndPagans.com

Quick: I need an answer to a theological question, and I need it fast.

As I write this, the little terracotta goddess lies sleeping, wrapped in silk, on a shelf in the pantry.

But soon she'll be standing out in the corner of the garden, plunged to her thighs in the ground. Through the summer to come—night and day, rain and shine—she will watch over the growth of this year's tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, squash, beans, herbs, and greens.

So here's the question. Does the Garden Goddess go into the ground:

1. when I till, or
2. when I plant, and
3. why?

It's become a truism in Craft circles that organizing witches is like herding cats.

Writer John Michael Greer suggested some years back, though, that this question approaches the problem from the wrong direction.

“Cats aren't herd animals,” he said. “If what you want is cats, what you need to do is to open a can of tuna fish.”

Students of the pagan community have not infrequently commented on the problem of the “disappearing pagan male,” and the resulting gender imbalance in our population. The long-term implications of such a demographic hemorrhage are, of course, dire: a community without men will not long survive.

Fortunately, I think that there's a solution to hand.

In June, the Warlocks of the Driftless will finally—after a year's hiatus for the plague—be raising the Bull Stone at Sweetwood Sanctuary in southwestern Witchconsin's Driftless Area.

Suddenly, there are men converging from all directions who have heard about the project and can't wait to help.

Clearly, men just want to raise standing stones.

We tend to think of ancient cultures as monolithic: the Minoans, the Sumerians, the Greeks, the Romans. But there were subcultures and differing groups within those larger labels, just like there are now among, say, Americans or modern Greek people.

It can be difficult to tease out the identities of the subcultures, but it's important to do so. Why? Because choosing not to bother has the effect of erasing those people from history. I think they deserve better than that.