Morgana Sythove
About the Author
Morgana is Anglo/Dutch and lives in the Netherlands. She is a practising pagan and is a Wiccan Priestess. As International Coordinator for PFI/Pagan Federation International, she travels extensively giving talks and workshops about Wicca and Paganism.
She is also a board member of URI Netherlands and a URI Global Trustee Multiregion. She represented PFI & URI at the Parliament of the World’s Religions/ PWR in 2004/ Barcelona, 2015/ Salt Lake City, 2018 Toronto, Virtual 2021
Her passion is to protect and defend ‘the Living Environment’ in all its diversity and manifestations. She is still very much the activist – the Eco-warrior but also the peace-builder – as People of the Earth, she believes that we have so much to offer – to support each other, to offer spiritual resilience when necessary and to speak up for all those living beings who have no voice. Unity in Community!
Resources by Morgana Sythove
MDS #10 “Religious discrimination and the misappropriation of symbols”, Meeting with Morgana Sythove
Morgana Sythove of Pagan Federation International examines anti-pagan discrimination and the ways pagan, heathen and earth-centred traditions have been misunderstood, stigmatized or persecuted. Drawing on contemporary surveys and human-rights work, she discusses the history of “pagan” as a pejorative, the Inquisition and Doctrine of Discovery, modern accusations of witchcraft in Africa and Asia, faith-based abuse, and the disproportionate vulnerability of indigenous and marginalized communities. She also highlights the 2021 UN Human Rights Council resolution condemning harmful practices related to witchcraft accusations and ritual attacks.
The second part considers the misappropriation of religious and indigenous symbols and practices, from the swastika and runes to commercialized ritual traditions, neo-shamanism and modern far-right uses of pagan imagery. In the discussion, Sythove introduces contemporary Paganism and Wicca, earth-centred spirituality, the revival of Slavic and other European pagan traditions, ecological responsibility, and the importance of understanding symbols in their historical and religious contexts. Participants also explore religious freedom, cultural appropriation, suffering, nature, ritual and the role of dialogue in overcoming prejudice.
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