Archive for category News & Reviews

Sacred Paths Center Survives

They needed to raise $12,000.00 to help them refocus, restructure and fulfill their mission.  People from near and far sent them $13,140.  Now THAT's a first harvest. Happy Lammas, all!  They sent out a newsletter with all the details>

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EarthHouse Midsummer Gather Memories – 2011

EarthHouse Project’s 11th Annual
Midsummer Gather for 2011
Litha 34,255 S.W.R.
By Rev. Jack Green of Hollow Hills Coven

If you like Labyrinths or home brewed mead this is the place to be. If you don’t mind camping in drizzle and lots of earwigs visiting while you’re hanging out with a bunch of pagans and singing, drumming and dancing around a roaring fire, then this is it. Jenny Green and I left Paganistan for the Blue River and Eagle Cave on Dyad 19, the 19th day of Dyad Moon (that’s Sunday, June 19th in the Roman calendar.) It took about 5 hours to get to the campsite. We had done our Esbat, our Full Moon rite the night before (Saturday) but the Full Moon was on Dyad 15, Wednesday June 15th three days before. It’s always on the 14th or 15th day of the Moon when you start the day count at New Moon so we circle on the nearest Saturday.

The Campsite and it's History

Eagle Cave is in Southern Wisconsin (An Ojibwe word) in what was Dakota Country around 1600, then Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Country by 1800. By 1860, what was left of the First Nations after the wars and the plagues were all pretty much rounded up and corralled onto the various reservations. The Nearest Reservation is the Ho-Chunk Rez about 70 miles almost due north. Despite Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s modern depredations the names of the land itself still tell the story. The old native tribes are now numbered with our spiritual ancestors and our future allies for though we are only Second Nations here we are the First Nations reborn in the Old Country: Europe.

Practicing the Abbot Bromley Horn Dance

Practicing the Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance

Settling in at the Campsite

Once there, we set up our camp. It had been a while since we had been camping and it took a bit to get my woodland legs back. Fortunately, the EarthHouse registration packet included a list of things to bring. Unfortunately, we got there just as the opening ritual had begun, so we waited until the gate was again open.  Then we pitched our new tent and borrowed a tarp for our sheltered area. The brand new tent was larger than we thought so we used two tarps underneath rather than just one as planned. The community fire was already going and the first night’s drumming had begun by the time we finished our set up. This is the same overall site as the old Pagan Spirit Gatherings I had attended in 1988 and 1996 and it was just as hilly so my legs and ankles got a good work out. While finding a relatively level spot for the tent was tricky, it was possible.

Jenny and I attended some workshops together and others separately to better cover our bases, but we couldn’t see everything we wanted to. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sacred Paths Center Future in Question

Here it is in a nutshell . . . the SPC has run out of cash. Actually, based on the amount they need, it looks like they ran out of cash a couple of months ago and are behind. This second crisis of the SPC has been covered in detail by PNC-Minnesota and the Wild Hunt, so if you want details, you should read there.  Or you can just go the Sacred Path Center Website where they make a plea for donations.  Basically, they have enough to keep their doors open temporarily, but might have to close at the end of the month.  If you have any questions those articles don't answer, you can eMail the SPC at ClosingQuestions@sacredpathscenter.com

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International Pagan Coming Out Day is May 2nd

Are you still in the Broom Closet?  Do you want to come out? Now there is a movement to help support your efforts. IPCOD or International Pagan Coming Out Day has a website: http://pagancomingoutday.com/ to help you evaluate the decision to come out and some guidance, as well.  If you've never heard of an official day for pagans to come out before, it's because this is a new organization.  Not only that, but Minnesota's own Cara Schultz (editor of PNC Minnesota) chairs the executive committee for IPCOD.

So maybe you are wondering, what is Pagan Coming Out Day?  Well, according to the FAQ,

It’s a day when individuals, deciding on their own terms, take a step that helps foster a society that truly does tolerate all religions.  It’s also a day when our religious community comes together to support those coming out to a person or group and celebrates the more public emergence of their Pagan identity.

There is at least one event to honor the day. It is a full evening community celebration which includes ritual, a special showing of the new movie, AMERICAN MYSTIC, and potluck at Sacred Paths Center at 777 Raymond Ave in St. Paul.  (read more about event)

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Faery Seers in Minneapolis

This past weekend here in Minneapolis, several people filed out of their driveways through the snow canyons the streets have become to converge in Uptown to learn to be Faery Seers. One associates faeries with green and growing things, not with the white mounds that mark one of the snowiest winters on record. But like my companions, I was excited to learn about these teachings offered by Orion Foxwood.

The Faery Teachings by Orion FoxwoodI signed myself and my husband up for the course as soon as it was announced last fall. We had just begun the process of forming our first coven after years of working with other groups. With his intensive studies of the Stone Ring peoples and my intuitive work with the Faery, we dedicated the Coven of the Hollow Hills at Mabon. Learning the Faery Teachings was simply acting in accord for us as we began our journey.

As a two day workshop, I expected a certain level of intensity as I immersed myself in the experience. I was not disappointed, as Orion is a charming and informative speaker, he began by telling us a bit about the Faery Seer work as he was taught it. I filled page after page with notes, and we learned some wonderful exercises. His teachings are less about connecting with the little spirits in nature than about the Shining Ones or the Gentry. Tall and majestic they are the faeries of light and enchantment who work with humankind to maintain a balance on earth. Read the rest of this entry »

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Local Pagans Celebrate Memorial Day

For the second year, Lodge Yggdrasill organized a local gathering for Memorial Day at Fort Snelling Cemetery. This year approximately 30 people gathered at 10am on this beautiful sunny day to honor Sgt. Jason Schumann and Specialist Daniel Schrankler.
 
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty was having a major event in the middle of Fort Snelling Cemetery, so it was a bit challenging to get to the grave sites. The graves were on opposite sides of the cemetery, which required driving around the gubernatorial event.
 
At each grave site, they gathered, said a few words, laid down a pentacle made of vines, and then laid flowers and other items. Lodge Yggdrasill supplied carnations for those who did not bring flowers. The ceremonies were short, but expressed a heartfelt simplicity.
 
Army veteran Mark Digatono read “Cry of the Ancestors” by Sawyer Finn
 
Out of the clay and sand
We rose…
out of the mist and dark
 
With our first breath
We dared…
to sail beyond the Ninth Wave
into your future of mythic tales
 
Upon our sturdy backs
We carved…
in blood and bone
the history of your community
 
As memories and dreams,
We gifted…
Our eternal legacy
to your children’s children
 
In the circle of time,
We are you!
Remember us, we cry!
 
Digatono missed last year's service because he was in the hospital trying to get out of the ICU, so he was especially happy to be speaking this year.
 
Specialist Martha Crandall also addressed the crowd, expressing that soldiers sacrifice, but their families also sacrifice. Looking around, it was clear that many people had sacrificed to get us to the place we are now.
 
Sgt. Jason A. Schumann was killed May 19, 2007 when a bomb exploded near his vehicle in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, about 100 miles west of Baghdad. Specialist Daniel Schrankler served in Vietnam and passed away April 13, 2007. They are both marked by a Pentacle headstones.
 
Pagans fought hard for ten years for the right to have those pentacles on headstones. As a significant local component of the quest, in the freezing cold of February 2007, the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance organized a large rally on the steps of the Minnesota capitol building which participants are still talking about with pride. Finally on April 20, 2007, the VA conceded and approved the pentacle as one of it's authorized symbols.
 
Afterward local Pagans Linda and Rick opened up their home to all in attendance. This was much appreciated. If there was a Pagan Homes & Gardens magazine, this house would be featured. They have two waterfalls, a pool, and their back yard borders a state park. People relaxed to the sounds of animals and reggae music. It was a wonderfully satisfying Memorial Day for those in attendance.
 
Photos of the gathering are available at Lodge Yggdrasill's accounts on both Facebook and MySpace.
 
A locally produced video by Cruiked Crow Productions with images from similar 2009 gatherings across the nation is available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T2GBquQ7Hw
 
Thank you to Lodge Yggdrasill for organizing this event.
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New Energy Technology

For all you ecofreak and technophile pagans out This is a major game changer! They finally did it! A cheap fuelcell! NASA made it reliable, these guys made it cheap. Check out this YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DLyruTqHI

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Northern Dawn Slates Guest Ritualists for 2010

This article was forwarded to us, and we thought we'd share . . .

For the past 27 years, one of NordCoG’s major goals has been to serve both our gods and our community by providing incisive public ritual four times a year.

But lately it’s become clear that something has changed. Attendance at rituals is down, and increasingly it feels as though we’ve lost the creative edge we once had.

So this year, we’re trying something new.

Under the overall artistic direction of veteran liturgist Steven Posch, Northern Dawn has invited several of our most gifted local ritualists—Paul Rucker, Stephanie Fox, Robin Grimm, and Magenta Griffith—to create our roster of rites for 2010.

In preparation for each sabbat, one of our guest artists will work with community volunteers to craft and enact the ritual. This should not only provide us with some topnotch ritual, but will give us all an opportunity to work alongside, and learn from, some of our community’s most creative and experienced priests and priestesses. Read the rest of this entry »

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2010 and 2009: In Celebration of Janus

2010: Facing Forward

Happy New Year! This is a time when many people throughout the world consider that which will be and that which has been. So let's begin by looking forward and saying hello to 2010 before looking back and saying goodbye to 2009.

Here are some dates to mark on your new calendars (If you have not yet gotten your new calendar, go to your nearest metaphysical shop and get one right away before they're out of stock): Read the rest of this entry »

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Pagan Parliament

If you haven't been following the ongoing Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne, Australia, Pagans at the Parliament is pretty much the definitive place to get updates.  There's another three days (it runs through Dec 9th) for you to follow the event. Several BNPs (Big Name Pagans) are posting articles there.   The Wild Hunt Blog is another of the best places to get a rundown of how pagans are being represented. If you aren't familiar with this event, the short version is that this is the great interfaith get-together which won't happen again for another five years.  So it's kind of a big deal. The official Parliament on World Religions website says:

The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions was created to cultivate harmony among the world's religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

To accomplish this, we invite individuals and communities who are equally invested in attaining this goal.

The other place to check for info about the pagan presence there is a new blog added to our links. It's the Covenant of the Goddess Interfaith Blog.

 

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