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Let's face it, Hans Holzer was not exactly the sharpest athame in the circle.

And there's the wonderment of the thing: that even through such flawed tools as ourselves, do They work Their will in the world.

Hans Holzer (1920-2009) was, by all accounts, an interesting guy. Born in Vienna, he PhD'd in Classical Archaeology (assuming this wasn't one of those invisible degrees that occultists are so good at conjuring out of the Air), emigrated to Chicago, and wrote 120 popular-press books on subjects arcane and occult.

In so doing, he gave hundreds of thousands of us our first leg-up into the Old Ways.

Though not exactly the brightest candle on the altar, Holzer had the nose, and the sense, to understand that the rise of the Modern Craft and the New Paganisms were profoundly interesting phenomena, and so—years before Margot Adler did it smarter and better—he traveled across Contemporary Pagandom interviewing the Movers and Shakers who were to become the First Generation of American Pagans. Then he wrote books about them.

In this way, Holzer became an invaluable chronicler of that shining generation of thinkers and doers who created Modern Paganism. In some cases—as with his interviews with Ordún of Chicago's Sabaean Temple—he preserved a record of brilliant and path-breaking work that has since gone largely forgotten.

To be sure, Holzer had his limitations. Often he simply didn't understand his informants. Again and again in his writings, Holzer tries to translate what his interviewees are saying into plain language. Frequently he just plain gets it wrong, transforming the insightful into the banal. That's the danger of interviewing one's Betters.

It's the last day of 2014, and today we look back at the a few of the most popularPaganNewsBeagle posts of the year (the Beagle started at the end of June, so this only covers the last six months of the year.) Margot Adler; Sumerian hymn, Stonehenge secrets uncovered; a deadly garden; Samhain -- how do you say it?; Silver Ravenwolf; ancient Greek mosaics.

A special edition of the Beagle in July covered the death of Margot Adler.

An ancient Sumerian hymn is uncovered: including the music!

The words we write leave a record. They help define us to others and to ourselves. They tell us where we have been, the struggles and joys we have experienced, and give hints at the future. When I was writing for the Juggler, I began compiling an annual list of the top 10 Pagan quotes of the year.  I find it to be one of my favorite projects of the year.

This year we seem to have struggled with identity. Some of that was defining ourselves to the rest of the world, but a good portion of it was negotiation within our intertwining traditions. Honest disagreements flared up now and then, as always, but there were also deeper questions of self-identification and marginalization. In the WTF department, Time magazine compared witches to terrorists, proving that we still have a long way to go in defining ourselves within mainstream culture.

Today at the Pagan News Beagle we are saluting seven of Our Mighty Dead -- Pagan (and Pagan-allied) leaders who passed over between Nov. 1, 2013 and October 31, 2014.

Who are the Mighty Dead? We defer to the definition given by M Macha Nightmare, “The Mighty Dead are those practitioners of our religion who are on the Other Side now, but who still take great interest in the activities of Witches on this side of the Veil. They have pledged to watch, to help and to teach. It is those Mighty Dead who stand behind us, or with us, in circle so frequently.” Today we remember Donald Michael Kraig, Judy Harrow, Morning Glory Zell, Jeff Rosenbaum, Peter Paddon, and Pete "Pathfinder" Davis. (Addendum: Sparky T. Rabbit.)

In today's PaganNewsBeagle, we have our Watery Wednesday community news. A watery festival in New Orleans; Paganism and depression; Jewitch ancestors; remembering Margot Adler; a new CSI episode features Wicca.

Bridging the Element of Water and magickal communities, last weekend's Anba Dlo Halloween festival in New Orleans combined environmental issues with Voudon ceremony.

Lots of community news in our Watery Wednesday post: Heathenism recognized by the US Air Force, two book announcements, remembering Margot Adler and the spiritual experience of surfing. Enjoy your Wednesday!

Literata Hurley announces a call for submissions for "Columbia: A Devotional for the Spirits of America."

Josh Hunt reports on progress made with the US Air Force to include Heathenism and Asatru to list of religious preferences for its servicemen and women.

It's Faithful Friday and we've gathered stories on spirituality and religion from around the world. A tribute to Margot Adler, how do we pass along Paganism to the next generation, Lammas, modern atheism and much more. Happy Lammas and enjoy the weekend!

Peg Aloi suggests a fitting memorial for Margot Adler in Central Park, New York City.