Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth

In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that have been used in the blog.
  • Bloggers
    Bloggers Search for your favorite blogger from this site.
  • Login
    Login Login form

American Faerie Story

According to Cal State folklorist Sabina Magliocco, author of Witching Culture, fairy belief is alive and well among American pagans.

In a recent talk at the University of Minnesota, she told numerous tales of first-hand 21st-century encounters between modern pagans and the inhabitants of what Robert Kirk called the “Secret Commonwealth.”

Of them all, the following was my favorite. It bears all the hallmarks of classic fairy narrative.

Including the ambivalence.

Driving in an isolated area late one night, a man braked to avoid hitting a fox that was crossing the road.

 

Much to his amazement, the fox stopped there in the headlights, stood up on its hind legs, and looked him straight in the eye.

It then walked bipedally to the side of the road, turned, and motioned for the man to follow.

Well, he floored it and got the f**k out of there. ASAP.

They can take any shape that they like, you know.

 

Sabina Magliocco, Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America (2004). University of Pennsylvania Press.

 

 

 

 

 

Last modified on
Poet, scholar and storyteller Steven Posch was raised in the hardwood forests of western Pennsylvania by white-tailed deer. (That's the story, anyway.) He emigrated to Paganistan in 1979 and by sheer dint of personality has become one of Lake Country's foremost men-in-black. He is current keeper of the Minnesota Ooser.

Comments

Additional information