I recently put up a post here at the Crossroads expressing my disgust at the beer label being used by The Lost Abbey to promote their Witches Wit beer.
Being one who believes in practicing what she preaches, I myself sent an email to the company sharing my thoughts on their apparent lack of taste in regards to marketing their product:
As an ordained Pagan minister and long-time practicing witch, I am TOTALLY DISGUSTED with the label you are using for your Witch’s Wit beer. Not only is it an insult to me as a witch and a painful reminder of a dark time in our history when many innocent people (both male and female) were erroneously accused of witchcraft and killed as a result of often trumped-up charges; but it is offensive to women as well. Maybe we no longer burn women at the stake, but nevertheless they continue to be victims – of domestic violence, sexual abuse, rape, discrimination, and other wrongful acts. To use such atrocities as a marketing tool for selling your beer is beyond my understanding.
I ask that you please take such concerns into serious consideration and change your label. The Burning Times are in the past…let’s keep them there.
Lo and behold, I received a response from Sage Osterfield, Media Liaison for Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey. Here’s what Sage had to say:
Hello and thank you for your email.
I encourage you to look at all of Lost Abbey’s beers and consider them in context. Each of the Lost Abbey beers features a label which depicts a theme of Catholic excess — good and bad — on the front, and tells a moral story on the back. (Our founder is a recovering Catholic.)
In the case of Witch’s Wit, the back label is a story of the bad consequences of religious intolerance and oppression. The woman on the front is referred to as a “healer” on the label and accuses the Church of being narrow-minded and violent, threatening the same fate to anyone who would help the woman. The label ends with a note that this beer — a light, sweet and golden ale — is brewed in honor of that woman (and all those who died for their convictions).
Our other beers — Devotion, Deliverance, Judgment Day, Inferno, The Angel’s Share, etc. — all have similar messages of morality. Unfortunately, the people who started this meme either didn’t bother or didn’t care to actually read the label and simply chose to fan the flames of ignorance and intolerance — which, ironically, is what the beer is actually against.
Best regards,
:: Sage
Hmmm. I do have some thoughts in response to Sage’s comments, but before I share mine… I would like to give my Crossroads readers a chance to share theirs without any undue influence.
PLEASE NOTE: It has been nearly two years since I posted this article. While I appreciate the comments which were left and the thought-provoking discussion which occurred, I think we can all agree that we have moved on to other topics. While I still dislike the label and would like to see it changed, it is not a significant issue in my life. I’ve got bigger fish to fry. While I will leave this post and its comments up for others to read and ponder, I am not interested in discussing the matter any further. Please refrain from contacting me regarding this post or this beer. Thank you.
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads 
Eh. I would argue with him that our posts contesting the only visible part of the label fan the flames of ignorance and intolerance. It’s a powerful and painful image and, viewed online, only one one side of it is visible.
When you employ charged images, you’ll get feedback and… clearly, that’s what happened this time.
Perhaps they should provide more of an explanatory context for the labels on the site?
They should be happy people are paying attention, and drop the defensiveness.
(I just looked at their website and it says nothing about challenging Catholic/Christian dogma, btw.)
[…] Lost Abbey responds: “I encourage you to look at all of Lost Abbey’s beers and consider them in context. Each […]
Even if what Sage said is true, the picture of the woman being burned is still very upsetting. After seeing it on beer bottles in a store, people might be so turned off they wouldn’t bother to read the back label or buy the bottle.
Lost Abbey needs to rethink their marketing strategy, and they also need a new PR rep to respond to this. The comment you received smacks of the same level of ignorance of public relations as some of the BP actions during the oil spill.
Context is everything in marketing and the context here seems to glorify the burning, with a crowd of males gathered to enjoy it.
I’ve never seen the beer bottle, however the images on the web do not show the back of the label, so it is impossible to draw conclusions based on anything other that the image presented.
That image, regardless of what the back of the label may say, is inappropriate.
The way the Witches Wit front label was designed – with the picture of the poor woman being burned at the stake – shows a lack of common sense. If they really wanted to honor victims of religious intolerance, they could have used much more appropriate imagery.
How are labels on bottles of beer (or bottles of anything else, for that matter) a fitting forum in which to “educate” the public about religious history? I wish Lost Abbey’s founder well in his healing process but suggest that he find a less public form of therapy in working out his “recovering Catholic” issues. That Witches’ Wit label is way over any bounds of decency.
Many thanks to everyone who has responded with their thoughts! I appreciate your taking the time to do so!
Please feel free to share this with others and encourage them to leave comments as well. If The Lost Abbey sees that there is a unified group of individuals who protest their use of this label, then perhaps they will reconsider using it.
I’m going to be rather busy over the next week or so (conference to attend, house-sitting for a friend, etc.), but know that your comments here do mean a lot to me.
Keep them coming!
~ Ocean
Wow! The image is quite engaging – for lack of a better word. There is so much going on. The guys are not only gawking – do you see the one with his tongue out??? The problem with this label goes beyond offending witches – it is offensive to women! There is sexual component to it as well… very creepy.
I think it should be changed! I understand what they are trying to do. Its interesting. But, as someone said, you can’t put a lable of a Jew being gased and justify it by writing a paragraph about the horrors of genocide. Take that as far as you want… with slaves, native americans, gays etc… its just not done.
It needs to be changed.
Wow, with the tongue out and gawking? I don’t remember painting that in there. Yes, I’m the artist. By the way you people are replying to my art and that what it is, is astonishing. Too bad you can’t see the actual piece in person. Maybe you can actually see what is going on. The people’s faces are actually emotionless. The church in the back is a symbol of the intolerance , very much what you are doing. Close minded. Your way or be damned. Sounds like what you’re doing.
Spare me the hypocrisy. It’s art and beer. Don’t buy it. You’re free to have your opinions, that’s why we live in a free country, I hope.
Perhaps you spare the rest of us your cynicism. It is not your artwork being criticized. Although the image itself may be objectionable, it depicts events which actually happened. In it’s own way, it is beautiful. However, the problem arises in using it as advertising. If your work were displayed in a gallery, that would be one thing. However, as advertising, it’s disturbing. Please explain how we in the pagan community taking offense to this image is closed minded or hypocritical. If you did artwork depicting a Jew being gassed, you would receive a similar reaction, regardless of your intent.
Sean (the artist)
I am not questioning the beauty of the art. In general, Art is meant to engage, challenge, disturb, inspire etc. In my own post, I noted something to this effect. Some of the greatest artists have created horrifying works. That’s not bad thing! If art doesn’t stir an emotional reaction, what is the point?
However, location is everything (as they say). Using this image on a beer bottle presents a new problem for the public. In a similar way that a confederate flag or the swastika would bother people. If L.A. wants to use your painting, its their choice – of course. But they have to understand that the image upsets people.
Not everyone reads or cares to read into an image’s inner meanings. They just see a burning woman and freak out. On that very superficial level, it’s bizarre to see such an image on a beer label. If the art was in an art gallery, it’s meaning would have a different effect than when its seen on a beer bottle. This is the power of the images in our culture. (yes, I have a degree in visual imagery)
Personally, I’m not offended by its use – I’m too left brained for such a reaction. And, I just don’t care enough. I find the entire public discussion interesting – more than anything else.
As far as your art, I was commenting on the art itself as best seen on my computer screen. It is disturbing – but didn’t you mean it to be? I would think so. I saw all the symbolism and allegorical meaning within the art. (But my blog commentary was not aimed at art analysis)
And there certainly looks like a guy’s tongue is out on the one side. If not, what is it?
Thank for posting this- I got here from The Wild Hunt. I am a fan of microbrew beer and I have been doing a series about the craft of beer at the Juggler.
I appreciate very much that you took the time to ask the brewery about the label. I think it important that we follow their response and view this label in context. A microbrewey has a very different market and intention than a mass produced beer. Many small breweries have themes and the label reflects that. Heavy Seas, for instance, has a pirate theme. I personally don’t like the art on this label simply because it isn’t the kind of art that I like but I feel that their explanation is reasonable especially when you consider the rest of their beer themes. When I enjoy a craft beer I am just as interested in the story behind it. Assuming the text on the label says what they say it does I respect their use of this theme.
I’m not sure on my reaction to this, as I can see both sides which have valid points to each of them and each pro and con has it’s own strengths. Not being a beer drinker I found it interesting craft beers have their own stories to them so I did learn something out of all this. Have to think about this some more although a question did pop into my mind, and that was if this Brewery was Pagan owned would the concern change. The basis for this question is Holocaust survivors are every sensitive to things pertaining to the Holocaust but within their own culture it is acceptable to place on public display pictures of the concentration camps etc.
I gotta say that there seems to be a number of other “witchy” images that could’ve been used without resorting to the image of a woman being burned alive at the stake.
Looks like you flew off the handle and judged something based on appearance alone without doing your due diligence and checking up on the company’s history. This not only diminishes whatever credit may have been given you by your experience – assumedly – spent deepening your “long-time” spiritual and academic understanding of matters such as these. Is it a striking, controversial image? Yes, and it was made and used as art with a distinct purpose.
This kind of reaction is what denigrates our collective progress, as many of us automatically assume the worse.
Simply do more research in the future. Do better.
Love and Lyte,
Fire Lyte
Fire Lyte,
I disagree. If what was under discussion was the condemnation of a non profit related endeavor than perhaps you would be correct. But since this is an image being used to sell a product the onus is not on the reciever but rather on the communicator. The brewery clearly at least in this person’s case failed to communicate clearly. And she told them what her response was to their failure to communicate clearly and why she had that response.
Toriach,
If you begin to explain something to me, but I stop paying attention before you get to the meat of the message there is a failure to communicate, and it is not the sole responsibility of either party. However, I would say that more of the responsibility would lie with me because I did not allow your message to come across because I was did not allow you to follow through.
The entire purpose of this type of product labeling is to stir an offended emotion. The brewer did not pick these because they are pleasant. While the method may be offensive to some, the message behind the bottle is more poignant. This was a tragic period in history and religious and political zealots were to blame. This bottle says, “here, look what happened.”
Martyred symbols are used every day. A crucifix is a representation of a martyr, so frequently are saint’s medallions. Statues, walls, bridges, streets, gravestones and all those little bouquets you see beside the road are also memorials of some event that struck someone as important. The fact that Auschwitz still stands is a testament to the fact that humans attach themselves to tragedies in many different ways.
This line of advertising is one person’s way of speaking out about the corruption that they have found in the history of a particular institution and its deeds. If you can sing, carry your message by song. If you can brew, carry your message with beer.
We are supposed be offended by the event depicted within the image.
I have to say that you’re missing the forest, distracted by the trees. Too often we snap to judgment regarding things that we see or hear and, while first impressions are unavoidable, the consideration that must go into this type of discussion is clearly lacking.
I have seen several websites that use a similar image of a woman being burned at the stake with the ‘never again’ slogan somewhere on or near the image. Is this also offensive to you?
Is it not a bit elitist to think that we as pagans or witches might own the right to depict that image in any but a negative context?
DJ,
There is a tremendous difference in posting an image of an atrocity on a website to draw attention to the need to prevent future atrocities, and using an image to sell beer.
As I stated in another post, you carry your message on the medium that is most readily available to you. If you can sing, sing your message aloud. If you can brew, say it with beer.
Dear Lost Abbey,
I have since read your response to one of the people who protested, and I respect and honour the response and even the intention, in which you explain a great deal about lost abbey brewery and it’s recovering catholic founder.
Nevertheless, the label is distasteful, just as any clear depiction of our most shameful times must be handled with respect and honour.
If you want to make a point, you may try understanding how few people read the backs of beer bottles. Just because you don’t like the misunderstanding this image has created, you might want to look at the image and the title – maybe the use of ‘wit’ is intended in an older context, when wit denoted a form of wisdom or awareness. This is nice, but you are in the 21st century, and using a provocative image on a beer bottle and then complaining of ignorance is a somewhat disingenuous strategy.
If you refuse to change the image, perhaps you could consider changing the title, so as not to infer some mockery. I admire your ‘education by beer bottle label’ as a great subterfuge, but probably pretty ineffective as defense for misdirected and misunderstood marketing.
…. as an addendum I would like to add that the “you don’t understand us because you haven’t truly educated yourself on our brewery” complaint is pretty pathetic.
Imagery is how we market – and if you use provocative imagery you should expect to have to deal with those whom you have provoked.
Having said that I really do admire their intentions … but then again, it was probably an original catholic saying .. that one about the road to hell being paved with good intentions …..
My thoughts.
1. Most of the “witches” burned or hung were Christians, not Pagans. So we don’t really ‘own’ this piece of history.
2. Art often shows images that are disturbing and this art IS disturbing. The monks are shown as shadowy and uniform – enjoying the violence. They look evil, which makes sense because they are participating in an evil act. That they are monks points out the churchs’ (Catholic and Lutheran) role in this sad piece of history. The female is shown as young and attractive and in obvious pain. She could be your neighbor, daughter, wife, friend. She looks normal, average. She’s a victim and the art depicts her as an innocent victim.
I have no problem with the label. I’m glad the blog author got a response back from the brewery…and I think this is learning lesson for our community to not fly off the (broom) handle and to find out what’s really going on before claiming victim status for ourselves.
1.” Most of the “witches” burned or hung were Christians, not Pagans. So we don’t really ‘own’ this piece of history. ”
It does not mater what religion these “witches” were.
You are using the patriarchal concept of divide and rule- so it is OK to burn a pagan witch, but not a Christian witch?
The Christian religion is all based on the Goddess religion ceremony wise.
Most Christian churches are built on the sacred pagan energy sites.
The Pagan “bible” was called the Book of Love- it was not a religion but a way of life.
The Catholic cult was all about keeping womb men under control and killing the sacred feminine within men and women.
It was their fear of the Goddess that led the men of God to carry out their evil sadistic crimes of torture- and that torture still exists in 2010- so history has not learned from the past.
We the descendants of the witches sure own this her story.
The entire human family OWN this his.her story.
What is different in the pictures below and Guantanamo Bay, Hitler, etc, etc.?
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/murderers.htm
And just how many drunken types are going to stop to read the back of the bottle???
I doubt many will, and most folks who are shopping are only going to see the front when seeking to purchase a beer.
I still believe the label to be in very bad taste, and I think another way of putting their message across could be found.
I will tell you that the average Drunken Type isn’t even going to buy this particular beer. Craft Breweries creat thei beers for a much different audience. The first thing I would do is read the label.
The question is, is this image exploitation or education?
Education? I looked at their website. I looked at the page with the Witch’s wit bottle. There was no mention that their intention was to show the excesses of Catholicism. Only that picture and info. about the beer. The bottle of beer, has on its front label that image of a womon being intentionally burned. (very few people will read the back.) Clearly the main purpose is to sell beer, not to educate.
Exploitation? I ask you this. If you were the woman who was burned at the stake, would you want an image of your horror, pain, terror and death to be displayed on a beer bottle in stores in order to sell beer? How would you feel? How do all the women who are rightfully sensitive to this issue feel? As a woman, I say it is hurtful to use this image to sell beer. If you have any sensitivity toward the victims you will remove it.
I say to the recovering Catholic that part of your recovery should be to show the utmost respect to women.
Even if the intention was to educate, it is obviously eclipsed by the intention to sell beer. The use of a commercial product to do it, and having the message so hard to find is not presenting the message properly. A mistake has been made. Please learn and move on. If your intention is to educate please find a better way to do it.
Given these times of increased hatred and violence coming from religions, it is especially important not to trivialize, or make cool images of holocaust.
The people who tend to drink microbrew and craft beer are not “drunken types.” Regardless, if this were the case, why be so concerned about what “drunken types” think?
Personally I believe that the label is in poor taste as well as clearly violating what I consider to be one of the core rules of marketing. What I call the one second rule. One second, that is all it usually takes to get or lose someone’s interest. One Second. So how long does it take for a Pagan to look at that picture and get offended? Yep. One Second. They can put all the really nice, pro tolerance facts on the back that they want but in failing the One Second rule they all but guarantee that anyone they’ve just pissed off is not going to read it.
As to her reaction, I think it was perfectly proportionate to the situation. She was offended, she wrote the company and explained her reaction and the reason for it, at the same time she blogged about it seeking reaction from others in the Pagan community. She didn’t denounce the company, didn’t call for a boycott, etc.
Now as to the reaction to her reaction… Well you know I am coming * * this close to coining the term “Self Hating Pagan”. It seems to me that any time someone does or says something negative ranging from merely ignorant to truly hateful, and someone in the Pagan community responds negatively to it, there will be someone else in the Pagan community to claim they are over reacting.
Now I’m not going to say that over reaction doesn’t happen, but really how does that make Pagans any different from Christians (well except for not threatening people with hell) or Muslims (well except for not threatening people with Jihad) or any other sub group?
I for one am getting more than a touch tired of getting a message from within My Own Community every time there is a strong response to something negative from outside the community that amounts to, “Keep to your place and don’t get uppity. Be a good cu… er I mean fa… er I mean ki… er ni…, um pagan, yeah that’s it.”
Ultimately what is more important to me is that no one in our community make the mistake of presenting themselves as if they are speaking for all Pagans everywhere. As far as I can tell the author of the post referenced made it pretty evident that she was speaking on her own behalf as a Pagan. So even if I didn’t agree with her I would still not have a problem with her having a problem with this.
Latest news from Montclair State University professor who had written to Lost Abbey:
“…Vince from Lost Abbey emailed me, telling me that they made an
ignorant mistake, and are happy to correct it. They’re
thinking of having a contest with people submitting ideas for an alternative label, and are working to get in touch with the right folks in the pagan and/or feminist communities that could help them do just that. Everybody won! The greatest part about this is that there’s a decent chance that with Halloween coming up, they and we can get local press interested in the controversy and give us an opportunity to educate the general public about the misogynistic nature of the European witch burnings…”
I have just sent off two emails of protest on this matter. I also am an ordained minister, but of the Wiccan path, and the High Priest of a coven.
My wife has a story up on our Pagan news site, Pagan Reports, and within this story you will see the photo of not only what the actual bottle and label looks like (front only) but they are marketing the same image on t-shirts!
I do not think that Sage’s response is appropriate, nor does it address the offensive front label. What people see on the shelf or in the cooler.
Blessings,
Dale Hyde
Wow. So the founder is a recovering Catholic. Would it have been appropriate then to have a label with a priest raping an innocent victim, just to make a point? Of course, one would need to consider the context. Total BS!
Sage, the marketing manager for Lost Abbey, wrote the same response to my original concern about the label. Below was my last response to her:
Thank you Sage for your clarification about your brewery.
Unfortunately the image always speaks much louder than the fine print. I’m sure if you wanted to, you could find some images of women using their wit in the true way of the witch (I do this all the time in my artistic practice). Because the history of the Inquisition is so suppressed, I feel that we are in a place to transcend imagery that appears to be a hateful reinforcement of fear.
Such imagery as yours has historically been used to remind women of their place as powerless beings. I wish I could agree that the image speaks as an “honoring” of the woman. Women who were killed were stripped naked prior to death and were not killed wearing a “sexy” dress with cleavage busting out of the top. If you want to honor the witch, you will probably find a better, more honest way to do so–one in which people will become more understanding.
Again, to honor the African slave or the persecuted Jew, you wouldn’t portray the very act of persecution in order to honor them. It’s not genius, and it simply takes a bit of taste and heart. Regardless of whether your brewery is more enlightened than the good vs. evil dualities that Christianity espouses, the image sucks. It’s uneducational context on a beer bottle does nothing to illucidate the historical oppression of women, especially to the person trying to enjoy a beer. Others who have written and who will write you are saying the same thing. Listening is one virtue of the witch.
Erica
Initially I was concerned for the one major issue “ocean1025” raised: the imagery of Someone Being Tortured as a way to Sell A Product. That was a valid and highly important point. However, the response from the company is more than adequate to explain the context of their use of the image (if it is in fact true).
As to the rest of the concerns raised, most of it seems to be in regards to the old “pagan proprietary” argument, which gets me down. The actual history of the so-called burning-times is not the intellectual property of pagans and witches. We do not own that history, it has nothing to do with us as a minority religion or esoteric group.
That period of time belongs to all of humanity. The author’s solution of keeping the Burning Times ‘in the past’ is essentially trying to bury it (although an unintentional result, I know). We must remember, that discarding the knowledge of human suffering is just as bad as sensationalizing it. Neither extreme brings out the truth. And again, as we don’t own the history, we do not have any power over it’s distribution or representation.
Personally, I think the image of that persecution and suffering should be remembered. This label certainly has done the job of bringing the subject to our attention. (I just wish it had brought out something other than a knee-jerk reaction based on a false sense of ownership by the pagan community – as it seems for the most part, the article and majority of its responses bend that way.) Even as a outpouring of concern for a representation of human torture and death as a commercial label, or possible misinformation of the imagery by those who don’t read the back of the bottle, this reaction is still rather unfounded.
Putting historical information out there of actual events (in any form) is not the problem. People who refuse to learn that history (and its corresponding lessons) are the problem. The solution to that problem is not to stop the discussion or the teaching of history. Not to mention, the company has the right to post or identify themselves with whatever they want as long as it is not an infringement of copyright.
To respond to the kind of arguments made by others…how would I feel if this was a label of a black man being hung by a tree surrounded by white men? Horrified, outraged, and reaching for my cell-phone to call the ACLU or whoever else I could think of to boycott and stop that company from using racism as a form of shock-advertising.
So is this shock-advertising? I don’t think so. Racism, of the specific kind I used as an example, is relatively not that long ago, and the slave market primarily fed the land labor “needs” of the Americas. So it hits very close to home, and results of slavery are still present in contemporary culture today, as racism still lives on. The majority of the witch hunts occurred in northern Europe and were very long ago (circa 1400s-1700s). It is my belief that the only people who still propose to feel the sting of these events are modern pagans. This is because of the false connection that has been passed down to us from neo-paganism’s founding fathers/mothers.
That is not to say that we shouldn’t feel a connection to the suffering and persecution of these people. No matter how long ago an atrocity occurred, it is still an atrocity. But again, we don’t have the patent on pain when it comes to persecution. And it bothers me greatly that we are still so seduced by the concept of persecution, that we allow ourselves to adopt a false history and prejudice that was not meant for us. Why do we want to be persecuted?
The irony is, that we don’t need to borrow persecution, because we have more than enough persecution to deal with in THIS century. Racism, sexism, agism, and religious intolerance are alive and well in today’s society. Let’s deal with our current problems. A label using a typical woodcut-style image of a witch-burning event in medieval Europe is indeed, in the past. Let us discuss the real history behind that popular image, misconceptions and false data commonly believed in popular culture, modern equivalencies to that kind of fear-mongering and public torture, and then move on to more relevant subjects in today’s world.
We cannot fix the past, we can only learn from it. Personally, I intend to save my energy for today’s injustices.
Thank you for your input “Mnemosyne.”
I see religious patriarchal control and domination ethics everywhere today. I also see reminders of it on beer bottles when I should have read about it in my high school history class and in my art history classes as an undergrad at UCLA. Instead, I only heard the male side of most stories and the suppression of truth. So, it upsets me that we are so willing to say that a beer bottle with very little written clarification on it can pass as “awareness,” “education,” “freedom,” when we are not even understanding it on the most basic levels of our education system. THIS is why the context upsets me.
Today, when I watch a documentary of the burning times I embrace the sounds and images that artists producing such documentaries create because I know clearly the intentions behind the documentary.
As someone who is not a practicing pagan, I found the image to be upsetting probably because I am a woman. As a feminist/womanist cultural historian and artist and birth doula, I am aware that the burning of a woman and any other form of torture and killings of women (due to hatred of women) still occur today in parts of the world. These women who are killed are not usually identifying as Pagan, instead they are killed for disobeying patriarchal laws, trying to leave a husband, having too much power, disobeying a client in a brothel, practicing a popular religion…etc. (list goes on). The women who were killed during the burning times were also killed for very similar reasons that did not only entail being pagan. Some just owned too much land, some were accused by their neighbor as a divergence tactic, many were midwifes/healers, anything went…etc. And some happened to be pagan because they simply held on to their ways of subsistence farming and rituals that celebrated the interdependence of life. And many, like myself, did not agree with the domination ethos and ethics of Christianity, which are still alive and well today. We are not openly burning women in the small towns of North America, but the blindfold is still on our eyes until we can openly discuss, without apology, why the witch hunts are still relevant to the lives of many people today of all backgrounds and spiritual beliefs.
It makes sense to me that pagan communities would be upset about this beer label, not because of any kind of “ownership” of their history, but more so because it is of the pagan spirit to REMEMBER, regardless of your ancestry/ personal, spiritual/sensual practice today. Just because someone may practice a very different paganism than their foremothers doesn’t mean that they aren’t or shouldn’t FEEL upset about a horrifying image on a beer bottle that reminds them of the hatred of women past and present.
I’m guessing that many pagans have taken the time to understand the relatively recent past (medieval is recent to me b/c I’ve studied the Neolithic period). Systemizing a type of hierarchy into categories of recent past, past, pre-history, etc. and implying that one event that occured more recent deserves more attention, seems to me to be an overly simplistic viewpoint and perhaps the very reason that slavery, genocide, patriarchal control are not coming to an end sooner. The point is to remember, and then educate in the true meaning of education, without the influence of capitalism.
The collective consciousness of humans is too profound to “propose” to choose only the most recent atrocities to deal with. As far back as 3,100 BCE with the earliest writing in cuneiform and centralized administration in Sumer combined with a series of invasions of agricultual peoples by horse-riding Kurgans (arguably), there has gradually been slavery, genocides, patriarchal control of women’s spiritual freedom, economics, voices, bodies, etc. The clear knowledge that people lived in relative peace during more egalitarian, matrifocal times seems to be an inspiration and a powerful impetus for many people practicing their own version of paganism today. I focus more on the knowledge of a matrifocal past as an artist than I do on the knowledge of persecution.
To assume that people who are upset about this beer label are not also angry about other ways media systemizes oppression or other atrocities of our time seems to be black and white thinking. As an activist and educator, I don’t believe that their is a hierarchy of the “importance” of issues, and everyone’s passion counts and should come to the table whenever s/he feels appropriate. That people care about this image implies a larger concern. People discussing it with each other retrieves submerged truths and refreshes collective conscious. It is up to the activist to choose her battles.
My main point is that the battles of today are not separate from the battles of our past. I’ve had to take many steps back and undo my dualistic, either/or ways of thinking in order to see the bigger picture and adopt a both/and consciousness in order to understand this. I think many women and men today are healing from atrocities of TODAY, and these atrocities are the same animal of our past, just a different form. The witch hunts are one extreme of the patriarchal religious oppression that still exists today. People will heal from modern day witch hunts and begin to feel unpersecuted on their own terms. And if you’ve done all your healing, then that is wonderful.
Pace
Your argument has a sound counterpoint, insofar as your response to the simple timeline issue. However, I do disagree that time does not define a period of importance. In the grand scheme of the universe, yes, all of human history is a valid prism through which the facets of the human condition and behavior can be viewed as equal. But in our personal experience as finite creatures, time plays an important role.
Time does “heal” as you say. That is the nature of our very being and our brain functioning. Eventually, all sensory and intellectual input are accepted. Healthy creatures eventually become acclimatized to knowledge and experience and let it go…the alternative is severe psychological damage (PTSD for example). To hold on to such things would be chaos and unproductive.
There is an intuitive “statute of limitations” on past wrongs, it is built into our brain functions. Holding onto age old hatreds and events that can never be solved is one of humanities greatest follies. History can, in this way, be one of the great producers of hatred and war…the grudge. The time to solve certain events is past. We can only learn from the mistakes.
You are right. If everything is important regardless of the timeline, then EVERYTHING is equally important. This is true. So, to focus on a single, past event of injustice – based on your own sense of personal injury – is both dangerous and narrow minded. My simplest argument to counter your timeline theory is this: in holding onto historical wrongs, one actually looses the big picture, and more dangerously, it fosters resentment and engenders a sense of entitlement and martyrdom. Your pain, my pain, their pain, past pain, is all equal. You cannot measure suffering. My argument was to focus on the issues that can be changed, as opposed to events that cannot.
This does not mean that we should not look to the past. History has an important job to perform: help guide us in our current lives through knowledge and the examination of our past (our mistakes and our successes). This leads to me second point, as history can only do that when it is accurate and unbiased. This is, of course, the main problem with all history knowledge. It is difficult almost to the point of impossible to view and record history in an unbiased manner. This is where my problem lay in regards to the prominent reaction to this label. Many were basing there sense of outrage on false controversy.
You may or may not be aware of the profound controversy in the pagan community in regards to the so-called Burning Times. Pagans have established a unique connection to this part of history for an unfortunate reason. Misinformation and non-historical content has been so ubiquitous in our pagan teachings and culture that many (if not most) pagans today still believe, at least, a version of the original “historical” findings of Margaret Murray, and perpetuated by Gerald Gardner. My critique of this label, and the reactions to it, were targeted towards this specific audience.
My statements were both pagan- and case-specific. This is why I did not feel the need to go into lengthy descriptions of the matter, nor compose an academic-style mini-essay as you did on the particular historical data I was referring to (both accurate and inaccurate). Most pagans are well aware of the controversy. My dismay at the reactions were based on this inside knowledge of this particular community.
I was not making assumptions, I merely observed, not for the first time, the particular quality of offense taken by the majority of pagans who commented. It went deeper than you espoused in your argument. In the original post, and many subsequent responses, there is a sense of personal ownership of this historical event. It permeates the whole subject. Many pagans still feel affronted by what they have been taught are conspiratorial misconceptions about The Burning Times by those who wrote the false history. It is still a major point of contention amongst the community today.
As for your reference to my particular healing, clearly I have more to do. Because this issue of false martyrdom and ignorance still pains me greatly. It greatly affected me as beginner to this path, and it continues to negatively affect others. I do not wish to be a victim of this event in history (even if it were not based on falsified data), anymore than I want to live my life in fear of male assault because I am a woman. (To take rape as an example, it is reality that transcends time. It is both a current and past problem, and it effects both genders and all age groups. But living in fear and anger only leads inaction, unempowerment, and even ignorance. None of those reactions will help us Take Back The Night. My wish is for all pagans to Take Back The History Books on this particular matter and acknowledge all human suffering as keypoint to the importance of living in tolerance and enlightenment.)
Brilliant.
I am neither a witch or a women and i would not buy this beer ever!!!! I have friends who are witches and women, and the fact someone would think this lable would make me want to “read” the back is mistaken. The beer could be the best beer around and I will never know. Give me a lable that makes me laugh or at least smile, not worry that i might have nightmares. I mean really when you buy beer how often do you read the lable? You buy on what catches your eye or have been “programed” to like. If there are two beers on the shelf made the same way one with this lable and one that makes me smile i know i would by the one that makes me smile. I realize it is their right to have whatever kind of lable they want, but don’t cry foul when you get the backlash. Also how can you educate anyone if they are so turned off by the image they see in the first impression that they never even get to read the back? like the old saying says you only get one chance to make a first impression
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the individuals who have left comments to this post. All of them have been quite thought-provoking, and there have many interesting points made and and a diversity of perspectives shared.
Understandably there will be differences of opinion… I expected that. I didn’t intend that readers had to agree with my thoughts and feelings on the matter.
To be honest, when I wrote this post I wasn’t sure exactly where I stood on the issue…I was still processing my reactions to Sage’s response.
All I can say is that I am thankful that this opportunity to engage in some “intelligent discourse” has presented itself, and that readers of this post felt comfortable enough to share their own views. I’ve learned something from all of this…and I hope you have too.
I’m not sure where the situation stands at this point – if the Lost Abbey is in fact reconsidering this label.
I will keep everyone posted if I do learn anything more, and I hope others will do the same.
In the meantime, I thank everyone for participating in this meaningful discussion. Hopefully we can engage in more of the same in the future.
Blessings,
~ Ocean
Wow!! I just took some time to read through this string of post about the label. I think everyone had some great ideas and it’s a good thing people are speaking up when things like this happen.
However: None of this will mean anything when the water starts to run out.
Just my thoughts.
As a pagan, I am appalled that the people here do not know their history. The “Burning Times”(tm) is a myth. Nine million pagans did not die. http://wicca.timerift.net/burning.shtml
All Lost Abbey Beers have labels that an artist interprets from the beer’s name. The original art hangs in the Lost Abbey Brewing Co. Art can be simply beautiful to take in or it can be controversial, thus stimulating debate. Well, it looks like this art has stirred up conversation. That means it is great art.
All organized religion is inherently evil. All art is inherently good.
Get over yourselves. I don’t base my purchases on packaging, rather I look for quality and value. If I like the product and it has real art on the label, I see it as a bonus. Keep up the good work at Lost Abbey.
I have to admit, this shocked me when it was pointed out to me, the 1 second rule certainly came into play with me.
I find it offensive, full stop, and not just because of the Pagan connection, I abhor any type of marketing that is done via the ‘shock’ factor.
However, I also realise, nothing I can say will alter what’s done already, having spent a huge amount on labels, packaging, advertising etc, they not going to change it now just because the minority (and let’s face it, we are) find it unaceptable.
Actually…it is my understanding they are. I received an email circulated by Pagan Communities in CA (where this brewery is based) stating that the owner of Lost Abbey Beers has agreed to change the label, and is working with Pagan elders and artists to come up with a new image to be introduced at Halloween.
Never underestimate the power of our voices…or our magick.
[…] a woman being burned at the stake for their “Witch’s Wit” wheat ale. While the brewery eventually released a statement defending their artistic choices, saying their intent was misunderstood, an intense debate over the matter raged within the Pagan […]
[…] Pagans. To get the other side’s view, I would encourage you to read this blog post as well as this one which includes correspondence between the brewery and a member of the Pagan community. Posted by: […]
THE NEW YORK TIMES article on the whole Witchy Beer Bruhaha…http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/us/23witch.html
As a former Wiccan, I think you guys are ridiculous. I used to walk into wiccan stores and find all manner of merchandise designed SPECIFICALLY to offend Christians. In fact, it was vogue to mock Christians for being so easily offended. Yet, here you all are, doing the same thing.
This is America, you have the right to be offended and WILL be offended often in your everyday life. Deal with it. Get a job, get a girlfriend, have kids, and worry about something that’s actually important, like voting.
How ridiculous is it that a group of people calling for open-mindedness turns out to be so close-minded that they want to infringe on another’s rights?
This might seem insensitive, but you all sound like a bunch of whiney kids. Get a life beyond dungeons and dragons, the SCA, and ren fairs.
I apologize for sounding impolite, but the reactions I am reading to this are just ignorant and stupid.
Pretentious and insulting? Sweet. Now if you feel so strongly, how about you waddle yourself up and go campaign. You make yourself the most ignorant poster here by whining about whining with nothing relevant at all to post.
Although it is disturbing, you cannot re-write history. No one, unless sadistic, likes to see the depiction of the mistreatment of humanity. But it is what it is. If we protest the artwork of every moment in history, where do we go from here? Religious intorlerence has taken place for thousands of years. We can’t change that. This will never be a ‘perfect’ world. I’m glad it’s not perfect. It shows me how to be a better person day after day. I learn each day that I can’t change the past, but I can make today a better day and tomorrow only brings hope.
If it offends you, don’t buy it. That’s what the rest of us have to do. Free speech means freedom to offend.
Whether the woman at the stake was condemned for witchery or any other offense, putting the picture of a person, man or woman, in the throws of excruciating death on a label is the dumbest marketing idea since….well, since the 15th century. It says something about the intelligence, mentality and morality of both the producers and the consumers of this product that is considerably less than complimentary.
And while we are on bad taste, how about the celtic cross used on this beer label. I don’t know anyone this beer fails to offend, except the immature frat boys that will buy it.
I wouldn’t drink this offensive stuff if you paid me. And I like beer.
Let’s see, people have the free speech right to offend others,
but if those offended tell them to stop, they are denying the offender his free speech right?
That’s the dumbest reasoning I have ever heard
[…] decided to have a woman being burned at the stake as their label. Unsurprisingly, the internet got mad. Shocking, I know, right? And then news outlets weighed in. And then someone posted on the Pagan + […]
I’ll be interested to hear what the artist and brewery have to say when a bunch of idiots get together some Saturday night getting drunk while staring at the “art”, and decide that hey! it’s time to go kill some witches! that’s what it says in the bible! sarcasm and your brand of “wit” will be lost on drunk people, if you didn’t realize.
Yes Rose….the wording goes like ” “Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live,”
Of course every woman is a witch because every women is a healer.
The free healing women had to be gotten rid of so the patriarchal church and medical mafia could take control over women’s fertility.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/gl_w.htm#witch
“A woman who is not submissive to her husband.” is deemed a witch- still is in Ireland in case anyone is not aware.
Wit refers to the type of beer. Witch’s Wit is a wheat beer.