Things in the quest to better understand what was going on with this organization, the US American Council of Witches (which Joe from Beyond-Dead.com pointed out abbreviates to USACOW…something I hadn’t even thought about before) heated up last Friday night when someone with access to posting for the Council shared a link on their Facebook page for a 1998 article on Witch Wars from Witchvox, essentially a passive aggressive move to declare that they were either being attacked or were going to war with at least some small faction of the community (mainly people like myself, my partner Devin Hunter, and other bloggers and ex-council members who wanted their questions answered and weren’t being quiet about it). But in less than a week there have been some pretty big things that have happened, and now it looks like the Council is really laying low by…disappearing?
So quick back track…
On Friday November 11th the Witch Wars article was posted on the US American Council of Witches Facebook page. Devin and a few others posted questions and comments which were quickly deleted and replaced with a request that all questions be sent to the Council’s Yahoo email address. Those who asked questions, at least some of them, were banned from the page. (See screen shots and the post talking about these events.)
Saturday we just watched as the same thing kept happened. By Saturday morning the Witch Wars post was going and the moderation was on high alert.
On Sunday Devin and put together the very email they were asking for, one with a list of questions that we and others in the community had been asking for answers to and sent it to the known folks involved with the Council and the Council email address. Kaye Berry responded with a knee-jerk reaction three minutes after the message was sent with “Sound like a witch hunt to me”. Devin replied asking if this was her official response. Kaye replied again saying that it wasn’t and that she would have her lawyers take a look at the email and then get back to us. Of course we found out on Monday that she only recently (as in less than a week, apparently) had started to look for a Pagan lawyer who would be willing to help the organization. Not a bad idea considering for a few weeks she’d been threatening everyone and anyone that disagreed with her, her methods, and the Council with all manner of legal action.
Monday more questions on their Facebook page, more deletions, and more push back from the Council. We were hoping to get some sort of answers before this week’s episode of The Modern Witch since we planned to talk about the latest news on this. While we didn’t really get any answers from inside we did hear from Heather Killen, an ex-Council member, who wanted to come on the show to share her experience and what she knew from being involved. When Kaye got wind that someone no longer involved in the Council was planning to speak out she sent a blanket email to all ex-members letting them know they would be subject to legal action if they spoke. This is what they received:
The information contained and given to you as a member of the US American Council of Witches is privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure.
Any and all information gained cannot be given to the general public, under any circumstances, for any reason.
You are hereby notified that it is strictly prohibited (a) to disseminate, distribute or copy this and any other communication between you and the US American Council of Witches, or any of the information contained in it, or (b) to take any action based on the information in it.
Let it be known that legal action shall and will be enforced. So mote it be!
cc:file
cc:Council Attorney
This is, of course, irrelevant. You cannot legally impose a contact where one did not exist at the start. So unless anyone agreed to a non-disclosure agreement at the beginning of their involvement with the Council, everything they know is free to be disseminated and shared at will. And many of them are! Heather and Kenny Klein, who you may recall was named their PR person and then thrown under the bus in his first interview about the Council when he was given false information about the group’s origin, both came on the show and shared what they know. (If you missed this week’s episode you can listen to it here.) Stephen Provost, another ex-council member, posted a blog about his experience. Everyone seems to understand the law except Kaye Berry (because I would certainly hope a lawyer didn’t advise her to send that email; if one did she needs to find a new one, fast).
On Tuesday, after the show, I looked at the Council Facebook page and found that questions were being asked once again but they weren’t being deleted and instead someone, on behalf of the Council, was replying but with the same cut and paste form responses we’d seen before. But at least it was something.
By Wednesday, as the questions piled up and the blog posts and Facebook were a buzz with the news of our show the night before and the information that was shared, it was clear that the heat was on. Again, not knowing who specifically was posting, but I suspect it was Kaye Berry herself, the Council began once again to delete posts and was on the defense, saying they were basically choosing not to answer questions or criticism in public or on Facebook and that’s why they were asking for emails. Below is a screen shot of those comments. (click to view full size)
I was so bothered by the way Mark’s comments were answered that I finally felt compelled to reply. (click to view full size in order to read it)
I did get a response that said the questions Devin and I asked were on the top of their list but that Oberon was out of the country until after the holidays (this basically implying that they would have to confer with Oberon before making any statements…interesting since we discovered that Oberon isn’t officially part of the Council and that he was just there to try to gather together the still living members of the original 1973-1974 Council). We attempted to contact Oberon as well and after a response back from him it turns out he knows very little and has all the same questions that we do and he apparently has received no answers either.
And so today, Thursday the 17th of November, the US American Council of Witches Facebook page is gone (or at least hidden). Both the American Council of Pagans and the American Council of Natural Earth Religion pages are still up but all posts have been deleted and their Info section has been trimmed to the bare minimum. Kaye Berry’s Facebook profile is also missing or hidden (which it has been for the last few days). But, the one thing that I personally would love to see changed, would be to see the US American Council of Witches donation page and button off Kaye Berry’s website. However it lives, and when clicked still goes to her business.
So what’s going on now? It looks like, for the time being, the group is possible going underground a bit to recover from the mess they got themselves into, hopefully consult with legal council to find out how they should be going about this properly, and reforming and reorganizing, getting their real mission statement together, and deciding what exactly it is that they want to do. Because I think that, while the best of intentions may have been there, the whole thing is being spearheaded by someone who has little to now real organizational or business skills or any understanding of public realtions, especially within the Pagan community.
Not everyone is meant to be a community leader and sometimes the ego just gets too loud for logic to be heard.
I’ve always been leery of any group telling the world that “they” represent witches, pagans, etc.
This is why. After 1/3 of a century following the path. It saddens me that this still happens so regularly.
Blessed Be
I have been following your posts on this subject closely and I find it quite disturbing that this is going on. If the “council” is indeed there for the community then they need have an open dialog with that community. Anything else is unacceptable.
Keep up the good work you two.
Blessed Be
Evidently, a new Facebook page has been started with the stated purpose: “To gather and revisit the ’13 Principals of Belief’ for a update.”
http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Council-of-Witches/120288251416846.
Which is interesting considering the other page is back (has been since the end of last week) and Kaye Berry is still on her rein of terror with threatening every with lawyers, and now, Oberon (apparently she’s got quite the list of “spammers” and “bullies” she’s planning to have Oberon “deal with” upon his return to the States. She has also outright said to someone (which I have the communication between) that she, Kaye Berry, is NOT a Witch and is a “Native American Pagan elder” (whatever that is supposed to mean).
The plot thickens…
It never ceases to amaze me how many “Well intentioned?” things seem on the surface that oft times things like this occur. I have seen it happen within local “umbrella groups” when members cannot reach at least an accord with one another. We are not solitary practitioners at this time, but after years of observing misdirected, sometimes malevolent egos, the idea certainly has some appeal to it. Some of the 13 Principals of Belief, are, in fact worthy of some updating. Ironically, though the outcome of such a venture might prove successful for those involved, I have always found that my “direction” comes from deity and that I have no need for those of burgeoning egos to assist me in how I conduct my practice or in how I define my beliefs.
Here’s the thing about the 13 Principles, something that had been clairfied by Oberon Zell in the ongoing comments discussion on The Wild Hunt. The original Council was made up of individuals who were all initiated Witches and Wiccans. The 13 Principles were intended to address beliefs of those within that specific path. They weren’t intended to be a list of principles for the whole of Pagandom or even solitary eclectics of the Wiccan variety. Anything today would be so hard to pinhole because of how vast the Pagan world has become and how quickly it’s growing. A list of thirteen spiritual concepts (or any number really) that would be meant to address the community as a whole is not only a crazy undertaking but it’s also, in my personal opinion, a bit niave to think it can be done with any sense of ease or simplicity. Nevermind the people WITHIN the group that might not agree, but the community at large may not agree. One of the things that kills me with this “Council” is the proposed desire to in some way represent everyone from Strega to Native Americans is somewhat ignorant. As someone who has (legitimate) Native American heritage I can tell you I don’t know many Native Americans who consider themselves to be Pagan or who wish to be part of a Pagan or Witch classification (with the exception of those who have chosen to blend their traditions).
There is going to be some pretty interesting news regarding all of this in the coming days..that I can tell you. So stay tuned. 🙂