I couldn't agree more with Pitzl-Waters. In South Africa the media and press seldom cover Pagan-related news of any kind. There are exceptions; the Mail & Guardian has extended its journalistic integrity to covering a wide diversity of alternative (non-mainstream) religions and have done so fairly. When covering issues concerning Witchcraft and Paganism, editors and journalists of most news agencies appear to be caught in the prejudicial folds of their very dated style books.

South African Pagan media is, for all intents and purposes nonexistent. The lack of funding plays a large part in this. Existing S.A. Pagan / Wiccan newsletters, e-zines and magazines (in print and on-line) do not generate the kind of profit achieved by those which cater exclusively to the New Age / Alternative Healing spiritualities and modalities. Few of these cover local events in any great detail apart from offering advertising or advertorials. One would be forgiven for thinking that nothing ever happens to Pagans or within Pagan communities in South Africa?! Of course we are affected by international debate and discussion (largely originating online).

Discussions following the Parliament of the World's Religions in Australia have engaged many Pagans in South Africa. Luke Martin, Convener of the South African Pagan Council responded to Ed Hubbard's report from Australia by saying "It has been my stance and that of the SA Pagan Council that most Pagan beliefs are NOT a new religious movement and that they have roots leading to our ancestors, which means that they are cultural ethnic beliefs." The Pagan Council defines Paganism as 1) polytheistic and/or pantheistic pre-Christian religion, generally nature based, and 2) syncretism or genuine revival/reconstruction of national ethnic cultural beliefs. Penton has chosen to republish Hubbard's report in this issue with minor changes to preserve source accuracy.

The Copenhagen Climate Summit is another topic affecting South African Pagans who embrace a 'Nature religion' definition. Irrespective of whether the rich and famous are gravitating towards a form of pantheism, the debate around issues as complex as so-called 'climate change' and 'global warming' are not religion specific and should not be characterized as such. The planet on which we live is impartial to the faith of men. The fate of future men and women however, irrespective of their religious affiliations or philosophical positions, rests in the lap of Fate and Nature herself. Would everything or anything change even if Pagans were to assume control of the world? I doubt it.

The Gaia hypothesis may correspond with many pagan (pre-Christian) and modern Pagan beliefs concerning the Earth and our relationship to Her, but the Gaia Theory is not a Pagan religion, just a good scientific theory, and those who hold it do not necessarily define themselves as Pagan. Bronwen Griffiths shows us how to make sense of the mass marketing of often conflicting information surrounding these topics in her article The Copenhagen Charade.

In our own back-yard, the South African Pagan Council has finally been accepted as a member of the Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute (SAFCEI). SAFCEI seeks to support multi-faith communities in raising environmental awareness, formulate policy and ethical guidelines, facilitate environmental responsibility and action, confront environmental & socio-economic injustices, support environmental training and learning and uphold, as a core value, the principles of the Earth Charter. Perhaps this will be an appropriate opportunity for participating Pagans to articulate what it means to be an adherent of a Nature religion?

The South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) has submitted a complaint to both the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) and the United Nations Human Rights Council demanding that both organizations cease calling for the suppression and elimination of Witchcraft in Africa.

In October 2009 the IHEU called for the "fight against the twin evils of those practicing witchcraft and those claiming to find and cure witches in Africa", encouraging not only the suppression of those using the excuse of so-called "witchcraft" to commit criminal acts, but also encouraging African governments to suppress Witchcraft. Any attempt by misguided humanists to suppress Witchraft or a belief in Witchcraft in Africa is doomed from the start. Belief is an essential and necessary human ability. Belief (in whatever) is something that in many ways characterizes what it means to be a human. Our dreams and aspirations are the fuel for new invention and ultimately, species evolution. In Africa, people believe, against clear evidence to the contrary, that Witchcraft is responsible for almost everything that goes wrong. Actual Witches - who are NOT responsible for the vicissitudes of Life - have no intention of being suppressed! Perhaps the IHEU dismisses the potential effect of the sanction of state persecution of actual bone-fide Witches? Or perhaps the IHEU hasn't realized that freedom of religion and belief is a universal human right?! I thought 'Humanist' meant 'One who is concerned with the interests and welfare of humans'? When you reject a human's right to hold beliefs contrary to your own, you reject their natural human capacity and potential - their intrinsic worth. I wish you one and all a joyous Solstice-tide, Lughnasadh (February) and Autumn Equinox in March. I hope you all have a blessed New Year for 2010.