Diss Canada Plus

Okay, a cool story with a cranky finish. Stephanie Conover, the reigning Miss Canada Plus (sixth on the page), has outed herself as a Wiccan who is interested in Reiki and tarot. First, in case the "plus" sneaked by you, the MCPP is a beauty pageant for non-skinny women. I like that, since attractiveness (only one measure of worth to begin with) is certainly not a quality solely owned by the underfed. This value is not news among Pagans, but it deserves to be reiterated. Goddesses come in all shapes, and women are splendidly modeled after Them.
The cranky part of the story is that, as covered by my favorite blog, The Wild Hunt, when Miss Conover responded to an invitation to judge the Miss Toronto Tourism Pageant, she sent her bio, which listed her interests as, among other things, tarot and Reiki. The people at the pageant, while not wanting to offend anybody (right), turned her down flat due to the occult nature of her beliefs. Shame on them; cancel my trip to Toronto (unless I can meet Stephanie Conover)!
So, the good news is, a. Plus-size hot Canadian Wiccan wins a major pageant and b. She seems to be willing to stand proudly by her beliefs. However, c. another pageant brings religious intolerance to bear against her. Regardless, Hail Stephanie Conover!

Andy ><> ><>

The Gods Must Be Angry

When the New England Patriots win the superbowl, crowning a perfect season, they can thank the Gods! The game many of us expected to see, Patriots v Packers, would have been a tough shootout between Brady and the legendary Favre. Instead, Brady is up against the relatively green Manning of the NY Giants, who have already lost six games this season!
Why? My guess is that the Gods are angry at Green Bay. First, Mayor Jim Schmitt declared his own little battle in the war on Christmas, installing a nativity scene on City Hall to make a point. Then, under duress, the city allowed a Wiccan Pentacle alongside the nativity scene, which was quickly stolen. In the wake of the incident, officials decided to leave the Christian display up, and to forbid any other displays, pending the creation of display guidelines. Shame on them; they have chosen sides where they ought not, backing Christ and Jehovah against all other contenders (never mind the the other contenders only want equal place in the public square), thus disenfranchising all non-Christian people of faith in their city.
Are the Gods going to take this lying down? Certainly not! They waited until it would really hurt, then gave Green Bay something to think about in a 23-20 overtime loss, kicked in on a 47-yard field goal that could only be explained by divine intervention!
My advice to Green Bay's mayor and council: make an offering, and start by offering a level playing field to all religions. Maybe the Gods will relent.