Category Archives: In the Media

If you came here looking for Aloma Shamanatrix and Matthew Miracle:

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I seem to be a victim of mistaken identity.

It seems this post I made after watching the hot mess of a NatGeo Taboo episode they were featured in, I’ve gotten a lot of hits from people searching for them. In fact, in some searches, that post goes back-and-forth between the #2 or #1 spot on a search for them.

STOP IT.

THIS IS THEIR PROPER WEBSITE!!

Click on the purple text directly above this very line —I know that you can.

This blog has nothing to do with either of them; DO NOT use my contact page in hopes of reaching them to tell them you love them, cos it won’t reach them. Aloma’s email is clearly given on the frontpage of their website —use that. Remember how to use e-mail? I know it takes a little more effort to go back to your email, type an e-mail address into the proper line, think of a subject line, etc…, but oh well, that’s how they do it. She also has added Twitter and FaceBook contact options.

That said, because of my nice blog post saying nice things about them, I’ve since become a friend of Aloma’s, so I do not in any way condone sending them nasty letters and hate mail any more than I approve of you mistakenly sending hatemail to me that is intended for them. If you have nice things to say to them, please tell THEM, not me; they were very disappointed with the Taboo eppie, and have very mixed feelings about people contacting them because of it, so if you liked them, READ THEIR SITE (Taboo left out a LOT of what they’re about), and send kind words and energy their way. If you didn’t like them? Seriously, get a new hobby. I acknowledge that Discord’s energy has a place in the world, but these are two lovely people I’m proud to think of as friends (though regretfully not very close) and they DO NOT need discordant energy.

So let’s recap:

  • I am neither Aloma nor Matthew. I’m a casual friend of theirs, I plan on eventually meeting them, but my name is Ruadhán J McElroy, and I do completely different things, and have a completely different calling. I may love them, be inspired by them, and share some common ground with them, but I’m a completely different person, living in a house, with cats, writing stories about the Mod subculture and making badges (not making improvisational tribal music), eating meats and drinking absinthe…. I’m *so* not them.
  • Aloma and Matthew have THEIR OWN WEBSITE, and also their own E-MAIL, and FACEBOOK, and TWITTER, that can all be used to contact them. Using MY CONTACT PAGE will only annoy me, I will most likely reply to you as if you are quite simple, I will forget to forward your e-mail, and later, when I think about maybe forwarding your e-mail, I will remember my nasty reply to you and assume I’d only be making them look bad by association. IN OTHER WORDS: Don’t use my contact page in hopes of reaching Aloma and Matthew, as it may never reach them.

KTHXBAI!!!

Psyche Rock Opera update!

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I previously mentioned this project here, but I’m going to embed the funding info again:

As of right now, there is only about two days left to help fund this project!

I’m also hoping to interview the woman behind it all for the blog, so let’s get some prayers out that both will happen!

[review] The Urban Primitive by Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein

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Title: The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle

Authorship: Raven Kaldera & Tanin Schwartzstein
Publisher: Llewellyn International
Year Published: 2002, First Edition
ISBN: 0738702595

I first want to say that I scrapped my first draft of this review because, as odd as this may sound, I thought it was unintentionally mean, well beyond anything this book, which is full of problems, deserves. I also got really self-conscious that some might interpret it as a personal attack against one of its authors, Raven Kaldera, who I honestly want to like (he’s one of the few people amongst the FTM spectrum on FetLife who is seriously realistic about TS/TG issues, even if some of the things he’s written for the public about the TS/TG community and his own transition may seem problematic, especially out of context or if one is making a habit of projecting), and so I really wanted to like one of the few books published (only three, ever, that I’m aware of) about urban pagan and polytheist spirituality —as odd as I find it that some-one who proudly runs a rural homestead would get involved in a book about urban spirituality, I was optimistic, at first, and still believe that even the most awful parts were included with the best intentions.

Tanin Schwartzstein’s introduction is wonderful and very welcoming to those whose spirituality is urban-centred —dare I say, I even saw bits of my own experiences in the recollection and lamentation of a pagan community that dismisses the city as “cold” and spiritually “dead”, especially as one whose experiences are of anything but. I’m also convinced that she’s responsible for some of the best parts of the book that follows (though I assign equal blame for the worst parts, cos if either of them knew better, one of them should have caught it and revised).

I love that this book is written for those with limited income in mind, and offers detailed suggestions on the arts of dumpster diving, thrift store combing, and frugal resources that are not only kind to one’s wallet, but also the environment. There are several helpful lists in this book for herbs, incenses, stones, even colours, and their uses in different purposes. One of the best parts is even an entire chapter dedicated to common plants found in most cities in North America, and their purposes and meanings. Another list is even specifically for suggestions on budget-minded substitutions for scented oils, and suggestions on budget-conscious or scavenged items to use in rituals, like a piece of broken glass for rituals that need a blade and you don’t have a blade, or using stumps of candles rather than tea lights in travel kits for altars or shrines. Let me tell you, after years of looking through “pagan 101″ books in the mid-1990s that made it seem like one needs a middle-class income to even start out as a Pop Wicca nub, it’s refreshing to see that, barely more than a year into the Twenty-First Century, there was finally a book that made it indisputably clear that ritual tools could be scavenged or otherwise obtained with little or no expense, and one needn’t be financially comfortable to practise pagan religions —sure, nothing beats what the ritual recommends, nobody is arguing that, but if you think burning herbs is “too expensive”, it’s really only cos you don’t know enough about where you live, and this book offers an adequate primer for that knowledge.

It’s also nice that this book is written for not just those who thrive in cities, but for those who live in the city out of necessity. I may not personally understand the appeal of rural life, but I understand the necessity on a fundamental level, and I at least understand that, for some reason barbaros to myself, there are those who prefer a pastoral lifestyle and may only be living in the city’s walls for the work, or school, or family obligations, so adequate coping mechanisms seem like a fair inclusion.

On the other hand, most of the lists are too similar to other lists I’ve seen in “Pop Wicca 101″ sorts of books. While it’s nice that Kaldera has added bits to this book to make it seem useful to those whose spirituality is rural-centred but who live in urban lands due to necessity, a lot of this really does come off as a bias, making urban spirituality seem dangerous to the soul, and the city an inferior place to live; it’s really hard to get through a chapter without somehow getting a potentially subtle or downright blatant guilt-trip for living in the city, or some kind of nonsense “warning” about dangers only vaguely alluded to, with practically nothing to back up most claims about the alleged physical risks (aside from crime rates, which is easily searchable on-line) and some of the more obvious pollution risks, and let me tell you, not even the developed countryside is without its pollution and risks to the environment —do a search on The Dust Bowl, kids, it wasn’t a gridiron game, and over eighty years later, it’s still affecting the central United States. While the introduction is wonderful, even describing experiences similar to my own, the book that follows it flip-flops between celebrating the Urban Divine and blaming all cities everywhere for everything wrong with the world.

This book also suffers from its constant use of vague claims, and almost never giving much, if anything, in the way of specifics to make for ease of fact-checking. The index is present, but not quite as comprehensive as I usually hope for a book of this length, and a proper bibliography of sources is practically nonexistent, so aside from the rare mention of other books and references in the text, there’s no real way to check whatever sources may have been utilised. Sorry, kids, but a “Recommended Reading” list (largely of books from the same publisher —curious, non?) is not the same as a Bibliography. Some quotes also seem like they might have been taken from an e-mail list or Usenet group or something, something I’ve discerned from the fact that the quoted person is unsearchable in a pagan context, and there’s a mention of an Internet group in the book acknowledgements, so confirming the backgrounds of the people quoted isn’t easy, sometimes even impossible —sometimes, that’s important, but to be fair, gven the context of many quotes in the book that fall in this potential category, it’s really not necessary. When it is necessary, on the other hand it’s something that really bothers me, and appears to be a trait of Llewellyn books that seems far too common, contributing to the negative reputation of the publisher amongst religious reconstructionists and academic pagans. And speaking of, I had hoped, knowing Kaldera’s background and that he’s also collaborated with Kenaz Filan, who I completely respect, that this wouldn’t be much of a problem, but I guess that’s what I get for hoping. That said, one of the best and most quoted people in the book is credited as “Beth Harper, Nashville witch”; I was incredibly disappointed to find her practically impossible to find on the Internet.

And this book makes a lot of really dumb factual errors that could have been avoided with a modicum of research. The one that really stands out for me, to the point that it just seems like a prime example of “making shit up in hopes of sounding smart” is conflating the Horai (Goddesses of time and seasons) and the Khorea (or “Hora”; a group of traditional circular dances from the Mediterranean and Near East) and attempting to link both to “sacred [prostitution]” (they use the word “harlots”), and explaining that it’s an etymology of “whore” and thus strip tease and erotic dance, as a profession, is directly descended from goddess worship (Chapter 5, page 50). Trying to decide where to begin on how much is wrong with that little “etymology lesson” kind of gives me a headache, because there is just so much wrong with it. Just to give you a taste of how wrong that claim is, there is no clear or even muddy etymological link between the Horai, or even Khorea, and “whore” —the word “whore” is descended from the Old Norse hora, meaning “adulteress”; considering that Kaldera is best known amongst pagan circles for his “Northern tradition”, I’m just floored at the fact that his understanding of his traditions’ languages is so sparse that he either didn’t catch that preposterous fallacy or, may the gods forbid, he desired to include it.

Of course, whether some Hellenists utilising religious reconstruction care to admit it or not, not only was there magic practised in ancient Hellas, but a lot of the “spells” and other rituals mentioned in this book bare a similarity to ancient Hellenic practises that are somehow “not magic” by the circular logic employed by some Hellenic circles, and can be easily adjusted to fit the standard ritual script of Hellenic practise. In the chapter on Protection Spells, the recommendation of drawing eyes, with oil, on windows and over the threshold of doors, even on the stairs, is not a far cry from the ancient Greeks putting apotropaic eyes on drinking vessels and heads of Gorgons at the threshold, this is just a modern, and argueably stealth adaptation of an ancient practise. Granted, you really need a good background in Hellenic practises to catch that sort of thing, but if this is your first time hearing of such a thing, don’t take my word for it, go check out apotropaic eyes in ancient Greece, and it’s clear that this simple little protection ritual is adaptable to Hellenic practises.

One of the complaints about this book that I see a lot from people on Amazon is the “Urban Triple Deities”. Now, obviously, I don’t acknowledge these “deities” in my practise, and I am sort of sceptical that something so basic as what’s described here is even a whole deity, and honestly, I really hate the illustrations for these six epithets, but who’s to say that these aspects don’t exist in existing deities? Knowing that Kaldera is a polytheist, I’m sure there’s intention that these simplistic figures can be aspects of existing deities, and knowing that Schwartzstein describes her religion on Teh FarceBorg as simply “pagan spiritualist”, there’s room to regard these as complete deities, if one so chooses. I can easily see traits of Hestia in Squat, “goddess of Parking Spaces”, whether it be your car or your bed, Skor, the scavenger goddess, strikes me as an epithet of Demetre or possible Tykhe, and Skram, Who warns you away from potential dangers, is a clear face of Hekate; Slick, the silver-tongued, works as an aspect of Hermes (something the book even suggests), Screw seems a simplistic, Neizchean aspect of Dionysos, and Sarge seems a sort of superficial Zeus or perhaps Ares. I also don’t see how most of these aspects of deity are specifically urban; having gone to high school in a rural area, I can assure you, rural people are no stranger to needing spaces, needing motivation, an anonymous lay, being in danger (I’m sure “Skram” might’ve been just as useful in Laramie, Wyoming, which has a smaller population than Adrian, MI, the latter being indisputably rural), or even scavenging (hello? gleaning, anybody?), but if this is a device that can open some-one’s eyes to these aspects and relevance to the city, then awesome.

In the previous chapter, though, ancient deities are addressed. Again, I have mixed feelings about this. I understand the space constraints the authors were working with, and to their credit, they acknowledged that the deities mentioned were described in overly simplistic manners and further research is best. On the other hand, there is no shortage of statements made that even a casual, but genuine relationship with a deity could easily prove false. I’m sick of people assuming Apollon only digs classical music, and saying “[He's] not interested in rock or rap or hip hop … [play] classical music, or He’ll frown” just after suggesting propitiating Him in a record store (Chapter 5, page 49), is more than a bit contradictory —seriously, people, if He’s the God of music, why limit music for Him to a single genre? In my experiences, Apollon really loves Nick Cave. I doubt that Thoth is simply “the Egyptian god of writing” (in fact, Wikipedia suggests I’m right about that). Zeus and Odin? Not the same deity. I really have to argue against the notion that Athene is the primary Hellenic goddess associated with science museums —not only is the name of the Moisai in the word “museum”, Ourania is specifically associated with astronomy, and Kleio’s domain of “history” can logically extend to natural history and evolutionary sciences. Saturn has nothing to do with “karma”, and I had to raise an eyebrow at the suggested association with the IRS —at the very least, an explanation of the logic employed would have been nifty.

One of the other problems with this book is the regular language that seems awfully Americentric, as if the whole world of Llewellyn Worldwide begins and ends with the United States. Not only is this book available at regionally domestic pricing in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, my own copy came from a UK seller via eBay (but it’s also a US copy), and Schwartzstein’s FaceBook profile states that it’s been translated into Russian. I wonder how well the suggestion that those who live along “the West Coast” fault line should worship Poseidon as a bringer of earthquakes translates to readers from Moscow? Or in Australia, where it’s the North Coast that gets more earthquakes?

Why can’t we see his hands? Gods above, why can’t we see Morrissey’s hands??

What’s so wrong with simply saying “anyone in a city near a fault line should supplicate Poseidon”, especially considering that those along the North American West Coast tend to get a higher ratio of reminders of their fault line than most other people? Why force the rest of the Worldwide readers to have to mentally adjust what they’re reading? In the immortal words of a Double-Double fucker named Steve1, “America is not the world”.

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This looks Interesting: Psyche Rock Opera

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There are some things in the description on the crowdfunding page and website that I can quibble with, mythologically speaking (Aphrodite as Eros’ mother AND lover? Er… And really, do I have to spell out for hard polytheists [who I'm assuming is the majority of my readers here] the folly of Joseph Campbell’s allegedly “universal” myth archetypes, and how this can sorely limit the impact and meaning of the story itself —while I can see the Psykhe mythos as fulfilling some, possibly even many aspects of the Hero’s Journey, to force Her tale into that mould tends to miss some marks of varying importance), but this looks like it’s bound to be a better effort than the Xanadu stage musical (which actually fails its Hellenic mythology WAY more than the original film, which actually recognises the Moisai as being born on Mt, Helikon, not Olympos, for starters)

Judging my the text on both sites, I’m assuming the sample music in this pitch video is just a rough cut of the music in the opera. I really don’t like the main female voice I’m hearing throughout this —she’s kinda “tinny” and strained, which reminds me of Sarah Brightman, and not in a good way1. On the other hand, I do like everything else I’m hearing, so I hope this sample isn’t reflective of the casting choices.

If I had any money, I’d probably donate a little, but if you think this is worthy of your delicious monies, feel free to give a little to their project.

1: As a classically trained singer, myself, I really dislike Brightman’s voice —and as some-one with a background, and even family background in opera, Brightman is the last choice for any director to put in something operatic. If you can’t project your voice with your own physical talents, and not a microphone, you are NOT an operatic singer. But then again, she mainly has the career she does cos ALW has been boning her for years, and everybody deserving of the very much earned title of Theatre Geek knows it. That said, I have a couple of Brightman’s pop records, cos she’s really just a pop singer and so that’s where she excells.

Thank you all!

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Well, it looks like social media drama queens can be useful, in some ways! I’ve gained more subscribers in the week-plus since I made that post than in any single fortnight period since I started this blog —this is, of course, not counting those who feed the .rss through Google Reader or some similar thing, which is harder to keep track of individual readers through.

So, here’s a quick run-down of what this blog and its writer, Ruadhán McElroy, are all about:

I’m a devotional / traditional Hellenic Polytheist, but unlike most traditional Hellenists, I’m following Boeotian traditions rather than Attic traditions. There are some differences between Attic (or Athenian, the major city of the region of Attika) and Boeotian polytheism traditions, including some deity names; I often consider using the Boeotian names (or Aeolic, the parent Hellenic dialect of Boeotian, Thessalian, and Lesvian dialects) that I know on this blog, such as Deus instead Zeus, or Arpus instead Eros, but I go with Attic names in the blog because I believe, in most ways, if not all, the deities are essentially the same, it’s just regional understanding of them is different. I do, though, mostly use the regional names and epithets in my practises (often interchangeably with the more common, Attic names), except in instances where I simply don’t know the name(s) used in the region.

I’m bonded, spiritually and through ritual, to Eros. This is one of, if not the main reason I specifically follow Boeotian traditions. Some may call this “god spousal”, and while I’ve used that term on occasion myself, it’s a bit more complicated than just that. In Boeotia, Eros was a major deity whose worship is traditionally traced the the city of Thespiae —thus we learn where the name of this blog comes from.

I do a religious calendar based on what I know of the Boeotian calendar and festival cycles. I call it the New Boeotian Calendar because while I practice in a reconstructionist methodology, I’ve made estimates and “guesstimates”, and sometimes selected dates based on similar festivals from HMEPA. This is because, despite the wealth of information about the ancient Boeotians, information about the calendar that is readily available to me is lacking.

I’m male gendered, but trans (so FTM, female-to-male), and of queer sexual identity. This comes up a lot, as while I certainly believe the major biological hypotheses for trans identities are plausible (the “hormone wash hypothesis” is outdated, by the way; there were some more recent studies, though, that suggest TS/TG people have a certain portion of the brain structured more similarly to the gender we say we are than the gender we were determined to be at birth —unfortunately, this etiology is controversial, as it’s impossible to examine on living patients, and very few TS/TG parients have been examined both post-mortem and pre-transition), I also believe that this was doubly important for my spiritual well-being. That said, I identify less as “trans spiritual / pagan” than I do as “gay or queer spiritual / pagan”, but my TS history and status certainly informs that in some ways.

I’m disabled. I have pronounced spinal curvature in a pattern typically associated with acondroplasic dwarfism, and I have some less noticable variants of common acondroplasia traits that my doctor pointed out; but I’m 4’11.5″ tall, so while plausible that I may have a very mild case acondroplasia (a proper diagnosis would necessitate analysis of DNA, at least at my height, but she’s pretty convinced that between my bowed legs and stubby little hands and feet, that I am the world’s tallest midget1), I’m an inch-and-a-half too tall to be considered a dwarf. I also have carpal tunnel syndrome, adult type ADHD, Seasonal Affecive Disorder (Winter), and general anxiety disorder. At one time, I was working, but due to largely physical reasons, I have been unable to work for nearly ten years. I have never done well on psych meds; my cat is basically a therapy animal, as she’s the most compassionate being I know, and she’s also hyper-aware of emotional stress in humans and has a practically instinctive desire to comfort people. I supplement my disability allowance (which is less than $700/month, despite what many Republicans and ignorant people on the Internet might want you to believe) with writing stories and selling badges on Etsy; my two novels (so far) are Simple Man and New Dance. That said, this is pretty much the closest I get to the whole “my life is an open blog” type of thing, and I mainly mention it cos sometimes I’m in too much pain, or just too stressed out, or too busy with my stories or badges, to write on a particular day. I also have another blog, The Odd Mod Out; depending on my mood, or the weather (so.. basically, my mood). I have some more personal facts posted alongside my Very Inspiring Blogger award.

My spirituality is very urban based. I used to do a blog called Urban Hellenistos, but I realised that, as I was working on that 30 Days of Paganism blog meme, and a blog project where I make a few posts a week about the deities worshiped in Boeotia, that a lot of my urban spirituality is not at all separate from Boeotian religion (indeed, I’ve named this blog after a city in Boeotia), so the other blog is archived, and discussion is continued here in mirrored posts. I find that my ability to connect very easily with the Urban Divine makes it hard for me to relate to most people who identify as pagan, as most self-identified pagans were taught to connect to the rural and wild divine, and identify their religion as very wilderness or rural-centred. I’m also working on the first instalment of a series of posts reviewing books on or related to urban paganism.

Apparently, I’m also known amongst the Tumblrsphere for my “hilarious back-and-forth” that time my friend Kyrene posted that infamous Tim Alexander / Robin Artisson slash. I take issue with the notion that I’m a well-known figure in Ekklesia Antinoou, as I’ve done almost nothing with that group, unless you count reminding P. Sufenas of some dates or saying something queer-related here that might get referenced on the list or something. I have no idea where VVF got that idea, as while I’m still technically a part of that group, I don’t think I’ve ever been incredibly active, outside of the comments on P. Sufenas’ blog. Hell, I’m not even linked in the blogroll.

I try to be very good about categories and tags in this blog, so that not only can they be optimised for search engines, but so that I (and my readers, of course —all five of them) can find posts or topics in this blog fairly easily. Feel free to peruse the archives, comment, ask questions, et cetera…. I don’t shut off comments after a span of time, cos frankly, I don’t get that many.

So, once again, a big hearty “Thank you” to the Big Pink Ox who knows who she is for gaining me more readers and subscribers! I still doubt your abilities to say much of significant value (I mean, hell, all I’ve really done of any value to the pagan and polytheist communities was slap together an alternative Hellenic ritual calendar, and updated it; I get more hits to this blog over images of Isadora Duncan than Eros worship or Boeotian religion), but you sure have a way of both giving me a laugh and brightening my day!

1: My words, and yes, I know how disparaging many people with clinical dwarfism see that. I think, given everything I had just explained, that it’s funny, but I can also accept that you might not find it so.

Star Gazers #1246

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Leonid Meteor Shower! The Nemean Lion is going to jizz all over!

Woah, I just unintentionally reminded myself of this picture:

Story of the Leonid Meteor Shower:

At Olympos, Herakles showed His various items to the other Theoi and Hemitheoi, and when Eros saw the skin of the lion, He seized it and put it on.

“Who told you that you could kill it? They belong to My wars, they protect My cities.”

“I had to. To redeem myself.”

“Your redemption laid in removing the people from immediate danger, your kill order was from mortal tongue.”

“How do you suppose I should have down that, then, without killing it? This particular cat was enormous, monsterous; some believe it was born of the Khimaira, some of those who do are even your Thespians. The beast was out of control, it had to be done, and Your pet, the Most Honourable Hera, even put it amongst the stars.”

Taken aback, Hera smiled wryly at Eros and suggested, “Why don’t you give the infant his robe back, now? He’s only been Immortal a very short time; he doesn’t understand the etiquette.”

Eros removed the skin, but before handing it back, slammed the jaw on the head shut, knocking its teeth out, then cast them from the Olympian palace, one at a time. From Earth, the argument translated as a sprinkle of meteors from the centre of the Leo constellation.

“I may be small, Theban half-breed, but don’t dare challenge me. You will not win.”

Traditional religion on UNTOLD STORIES OF E.R.

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The first time I saw a telly spot for this show, there was a very sensational-looking clip showing a re-enactment of what was ostensibly a traditional African diaspora ritual, and a comment from a nurse about “voodoo”.  While I do watch a lot of television, about half of the programmes I play off the DVR box are reruns that I tend to keep on for “white noise”, cos for some reason, I’m one of those people who finds it easier to read, write, or work at my badge press when there’s some active sound, and sometimes, I think that the flickering lights of this old tube model telly helps me concentrate better, too.  I am not the biggest fan of how television people tend to portray traditional, pre-Christian religions, even ostensibly “reality” programmes or documentary series like to tweak up the “omg, this shit is bananas” factor for the ratings, and then immediately have an expert covertly, if not overtly, make comparisons to Christianity.  It can be frustrating, and programmes with a science-and-history theme are often some of the greatest offenders, but National Geographic (which has more of a social bend) is pretty far from being blameless here.

Then, out of curiosity, maybe a bit of a masochistic streak, I decided to watch Untold Stories of the E.R.  Eventually, one of the “voodoo” episodes came on, and I’m actually kind of impressed with the overall portrayal. Now, this isn’t my religion, but they keep the re-enactment of rituals performed in the hospitals pretty simple –a little ritual dancing, maybe waving a bit of burning herb or incense.  What impresses me most is the interview segments with the doctors about these things witnessed.

It always kind of begins the same way: Person comes into the E.R., typically an immigrant from Africa, with some symptoms, but the various hospital instruments and tests reveal nothing. Patient, at some point, reveals that they have been cursed by someone in their old village, or the local immigrant community, but the doctors still try to look for something physical. Eventually, the doctor in charge of the case admits that there’s nothing left he can do, but Patient isn’t getting any better, so Doctor takes a leap of faith and calls in a spirit worker from the local immigrant community.

The doctors say a lot of the same things:

“This was clearly a spiritual problem, it was out of my hands.”

“I could only do just so much for the body, the rest was left to something else.”

“I don’t know everything that’s out there, but I do know if the patient didn’t get this ritual to remove the bad spirits, she’d've died.”

This reminds me of reading about studies of people attempting to cure patients wbo believe themselves to be cursed. If untreated through ritual, no matter how much medical help is given, there is a clear correlation of patients dying. While many Western doctors use language that treats this as no different from any other placebo, the number of doctors who describe these “voodoo prescriptions” with the same language afforded to the “miraculous” recovery of people whose loved ones sat beside them, prostrate in prayer (thus ostensibly mainstream Christian), is something that I not only welcome and am generally happy to see (even if there is still some sensationalism for ratings), but I find this affirming in some ways.

No, it’s not the same as with Hellenismos, where (at least in this day and age), the curse culture is barely functional, if a quick survey of Hellenists visible online can be believed, but if an E.R. Doctor can not just accept, but be willing to find and call in a tribal spirit worker to help a hospital patient, then surely that is positive news for other traditional religions and even neopagan religions that, by their natures, have some similar features.