This is an article worth reading. It reminds us that however we like
to think that things are changing, a lot stays the same.

- Wicasta

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Bad vibes in Glastonbury after Catholics against pagans
By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

BY THE light of the full moon, witches in Glastonbury will tonight be
casting a "circle of protection" around Britain's centre of mysticism
after a group of militant Christians cast salt at them in an attempt
to "cleanse" the town of paganism.

One Roman Catholic was fined and two cautioned by police after the
"alternative Hallowe'en" festival in Britain's centre of magical
mysticism turned into a spiritual battle between Christianity and
paganism.

Now even the local Catholic priest has told his fellow Christians that
they are not welcome in the town.

The Christians were visiting for the Lightswitch@glastonbury festival,
the eighth such event organised by the Catholic charity Youth 2000.
Promotional material tempted them there with slogans such as: "Has the
light on your halo gone dark? Have your wings gone a bit grubby? Just
want to switch your faith back on?"

Organised with the co-operation of the Catholic Parish Church and
Shrine of Our Lady St Mary in Glastonbury, it was intended to be the
Hallowe'en of choice "for those who have grown tired of tatty fancy
dress and the Blair Witch Project".

But police were called after militants told locals that they wanted to
cleanse the town of paganism, cast salt around to exorcise "evil"
spirits and called one woman a "whore witch".

Yemaya Pinder, a witch and a member of the Pagan Federation who owns
The Magick Box store, said that she believed the Christians should be
prosecuted for a religious hate crime.

Mrs Pinder, a mother of two and grandmother of four, and whose sister
is an Anglican vicar in Basildon, described how a group of Catholics
had entered her shop and abused her.

She said: "It was as if we had returned to the dark ages. They told me
they wanted to cleanse Glastonbury of paganism. They said they had
lighters and were going to come back and burn us down. When the police
asked them to apologise, they refused."

She said there were no plans to put a curse on the Christians. "But we
are doing protection for ourselves and the shop and the town. We are
working magic for the healing and the damage they very nearly did
between us and the local Roman Catholic church."

She said that the town's witches had begun to work their magic,
starting the protective circle on Samhein, the Celtic new year, last
Tuesday, and planning to finish it using the "high energy" of
tonight's full moon.

Dreow Bennett, the Archdruid of Glastonbury and leader of the pagan
movement, said: "To call the behaviour of some of their members
medieval would be an understatement. I witnessed a pagan being called
a `bloody witch' and being told, `You will burn in hell'.

"Apparently this man was not a diligent follower of the teachings of
Christ. It was my understanding that Christ taught compassion and
tolerance rather than hatred and ignorance."

Father Kevin Knox-Lecky, the Catholic parish priest at Glastonbury,
said: "I was utterly appalled by the disgraceful behaviour, language
and threats that were apparently made to members of the local pagan
community by a small fringe group that attached itself to the Youth
2000 retreat last weekend in Glastonbury." He said the militants were
"unChristian and unrepresentative" of the majority of the 350 young
people at the festival.

He had since met Mrs Pinder and Mr Bennett. The conversation ended in
"mutual embrace". He said: "We have agreed to keep in touch with each
other and to support each other in the event of negative attention
from any extremists from whichever faith. I have frequently found
evidence of rites performed on my church steps."

Youth 2000 is a registered charity which aims to forge links between
young Catholics through retreats and events.

Charlie Connor, the managing director of Youth 2000, said that aiming
"blessed salt" at pagans was in direct contravention of the spirit of
Youth 2000. "For the avoidance of doubt, Youth 2000 does not condone
or encourage this kind of behaviour from anyone. We fully agree that
differences on matters of faith cannot and should not be resolved by
any kind of harassment."

But he added: "Youth 2000 would also like to place on the record that
many young people at the retreat were harassed, sworn at and even
cursed by people. One incident included the taking of photographs of
young people, including children, and numbers plates by people present
in the town. They were forced to move on. Regrettably, Youth 2000 will
not be running a festival in Glastonbury next year."

Avon and Somerset police said: "The neighbourhood beat manager was on
patrol on Saturday and was alerted that there was an incident at the
Magick Box shop. The officer arrested a man for a public order
offence. He was later released after being issued with a fixed penalty
notice. Two women were also given cautions and words of advice about
their future behaviour."

A SPIRITUAL BATTLE . . . WITH A LARGE PINCH OF SALT

- Glastonbury has become well known as the venue of one of the world's
most popular music festivals but its mystical roots go back much further

- Some believe it was the site of Avalon, the final resting place of
King Arthur

- Salt, the origin of the word "salvation", has an important place in
many of the world's religions

- Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting The Last Supper shows Judas
Iscariot spilling a bowl of salt, seen as an omen of evil and bad luck

- Some Christians still believe that they should throw it over their
shoulder to ward off devils that may be lurking behind them

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2436968,00.html