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'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. We were frustrated we couldn’t get going right away, but it had rained the night before, and it was very difficult to start a fire. We finally got a fire going and had a late breakfast and I finished setting up our campsite while Jenny went to a drumming workshop.  It was pretty rainy and misty until Thursday and we had to use our rain ponchos a couple of times. The rest of the time was quite nice and sunny. We got to star gaze a couple of nights and I gave some informal star walks. On Friday night Jenny and I saw the International Space Station pass over. It moved like a satellite but it was much brighter. Now that it’s finished some people say they can see its oblong shape. Godspeed to the heroes who have died trying to open up the next frontier not just for humankind but now for All Gaian Life.

Pagan University

In addition to a series of workshops and kids programming, there was Pagan U or Pagan University which focused on more advanced topics and I was asked to do a session on Pagan History. These classes were generally right after morning meeting and the first one was an Herb Walk and Plant Identification. Presentations included Ecological Restoration, a Spiritual Perspective which involved a hike in the local woods on Monday with Chris. Divination: What, How and Why on Tuesday and To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silent on Wednesday, both by Estelle Daniels. Thursday’s was Understanding the Labyrinth with Mama Cat and my Pagan History was on Friday. While I did get to explain the broad sweep of the topic, the detailed discussion only got us up to Stonehenge and the Megalithic Tribes.

The feasts and the music shows were awesome! The Midsummer Feast on Wednesday, 22rd Day (June 22rd) of Dyad Moon was huge and we made turkey chili for the vast potluck collection and the Barbarian (camper’s leftovers) Feast on Saturday, Dyad 25, June 25th. (Note: it is quite rare that a Roman Month such as June starts on the day of the New Moon of a lunation like Dyad Moon so Month and Moon days match up but it does happen. When it does you can often get several moons in a row that do it, like the next moon: Buck . . . it was just as big)

Smiley Face in the Fire

Music, Ritual and Other Wild Things

The musical guests were great too: “Folk Magic’ played Wednesday night. On Friday, the 24th Day of Dyad Moon, Cat Gut did a violin concert on that put us in the salons of 18th Century Europe while we lounged in a 21st Century Wisconsin forest. Amazing. Jenny and Bear sang folk songs afterwards, including a few requests. That night the amazingly talented Cat Gut also gave us an awesome fire-spinning show during the drumming and dancing of the community fire circle. (See above photo). The previous evening, Cat was practicing with her light spinning LED wands that created a number of very interesting optical effects, but my camera’s batteries were dead at that point.

The Rituals are of course what a lot of folks come for. The Chocolate ritual on Monday was funny and tasty. The Summer Solstice rite on Tuesday was not the usual celebration of the union of the God and Goddess, but more of a magical rite on what we wanted to get rid of in our lives. Wednesday was the Midsummer Feast and Thursday Mama Cat led a Labyrinth Walk. There was a closing ritual on Sunday, which we attended as we were packing up. We made sure to get as much contact info as we could from our new friends before we left.

Nature and the local wild life as usual had it’s own agenda. In addition to the mists and rains in the first part of the week, we had a startling large number of earwigs getting into every nook and cranny; plus gnats that well, bugged us. There were tons of birds of all local species. Skunks patrolled for trash at night—I could hear their little growly voices at times. A Barred Owl debate woke Jenny and I up around 3:00 AM Thursday morning. We think they were arguing about territory as the screeches came from two different sides of the tent.

EarthHouse Midsummer Gather was a blessed relief from Mundania, the Muggle World. I still get a little culture shock after every pagan gather but the spiritual recharge is well worth it. After the gather, Jenny wanted to somehow to make our alarm clock say “It’s Coffee and Hot Water too!” just like the morning call of Rick’s Café and the village herald we were greeted with each morning at 7:00 AM. All in all it was a great, engaging weekend and we had fun relaxing, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones as we ‘recharged’ our pagan batteries.

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)

I 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.

This is considered the first of many Modules to come which would work with the system of the Tree of Enchantment which is in second book. It has been compared to a western kabala with nine keys. I wasn't expecting a Cosmology with this, which is what I get for not reading the book ahead of time. By the end of the first day, I had so much information that I could not process it all.

There were a few points during the day that Orion played some music for us. For me the worst one was the song You Are Loved by Josh Grobin, who really is just a glorified choir boy, and I found the song to be a gross interruption in the teaching. My heart belongs to folk music, both ancient and modern, and it was sad to see this as part of what was supposed to be a folk tradition class. He totally missed the mark with this.

There was some energy work we did, with movements that were kind of like Tai Chi. Working with breath, movement, and intention in a group like that was a quiet blessing, and I wished that the first day had had more of that. We were all very tired by the end of the day.

Sleep came easily and heavily, and the morning found us stopping for some Gatorade and other snacks to keep our juices flowing for Day 2 of the workshop. During the first day we were introduced to working with and seeing ourselves as co walkers. As in the Feri tradition founded by Victor and Cora Anderson, and the Huna tradition by Max Freedom Long, the Faery Seer Tradition has three aspects to their souls called walkers. I won't get into the details of it all, as it is all in the books by Orion Foxwood, this was strange for me work in this way, as I never had a problem slipping into Faery during meditation.

On the way to class the second day I felt a little bit wary, because while I did learn some useful things the first day, it was not at all what I expected. But the second day proved to be delightful, and things were starting to click. Again pages of notes were taken, and an understanding of what a Faery Seer was started to become more clear. It is less about seeing the realm of faery, than about working with it.

At one point we went out into the store and Orion pointed out some books that he recommended. R.J. Stewart is his teacher, mentor, and publisher so naturally all of his books were recommended. For folklore he recommended The Fairy Faith by W.B. Evans-Wentz and Meeting the Other Crowd edited by Eddie Lennihan. No mention of anything by Brian Froud, who is so clearly the greatest Faery Seer of our time. He missed the mark with this as well.

Still, two misses during two full days of workshop is not a bad track record. He works with his Faery Wife which is Brigh, a faery queen, who made her presence known there and bestowed on all of us a blessing at the end. There are some wonderful aspects to the workings we learned. Overall it just didn't feel like the Faery that I know and love, but the techniques will be very useful to me and the Faery Folk that I already work with. Maybe someday I will meet the Queen of my faery troupe, it will be good to do so.

Related Links:

• House of Brigh – Orion Foxwood's website
• MN Faery Seership Group – Facebook Group of people who are studying Faery Seership.
• R.J. Stewart Books – Books, Music & more
• World of Froud – The Art of Brian and Wendy Froud

© 2011, Jenny Green, all Rights Reserved.

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!

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.

Lighting up the dark nights of Oimelc 2010 will be visionary artist Paul B. Rucker’s “Welcome, New Fire: The Rite of the Three Bredes” on Saturday, February 6 at Newell Park in St. Paul (http://mn-stpaul.civicplus.com/facilities.aspx?search=1&CID=1&pagenum=4&RID=76&Page=detail for more information).

If you’d like to get more involved with the ritual itself, come to the walk-through and rehearsal on Sunday, January 24 (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=248916736543&index=1 for more information).

“I’ve been percolating this ritual for years,” says Rucker. “It takes its inspiration from the first genuine drawing-down that I ever witnessed, at a NordCoG Oimelc in the mid-80s. ‘Three Bredes’ will be primal, experiential, and iconic, accessible to neophytes but with the depth to satisfy the experienced.”

Upcoming events (tentatively) include: the Marriage of Leaf and Horn (Bealtaine), The Passion of the Harvest (Autumn Equinox), and the Rite of the Three Crones (Samhain).

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):

• Group/Seeker Meet & Greet, Saturday January 16 from 6:30 to 9pm at Sacred Paths Center. This is a great opportunity to connect individuals seeking groups and groups seeking new members.
• Sacred Paths Center First Anniversary Celebration, February 13, 2010 This will be a day of festivities including a Bread & Brew Contest
• Group/Seeker Meet & Greet, Tuesday April 13, 2010 from 6:30 to 9pm at Sacred Paths Center. These only take place every 3 months, so don't wait!
• Heart of the Beast May Day Parade, Sunday May 2, 2010 If we are all a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day, then everyone at this celebration is a little Pagan.
• Eye of Horus Psychic Sunday, May 30 2010 A day full of readers, which is a great thing.
• Witch Hat Tower is open to the public, Friday June 4, 2010, 5 – 8 pm For Emma Bull Fans, this would be a great day for a War for the Oaks tour of the Twin Cities (Who wants to organize it?)
• Earth House Midsummer Gather, June 20-27, 2010 A camping event at Eagle Cave Campground. Come experience the warmth of this close knit community.
• GLBT Pride, June 26-27, 2010 In the U.S. we have the second largest Pagan population, the third largest GLBT population, and a lot of overlap between the two.
• Sacred Fire Circle in Paradise, July 15-18th, 2010 This is a profound opportunity for intense personal working. You've just gotta experience it to understand, and it's a life changing experience.
• Sacred Harvest Fest, August 7-15th, 2010 Camp with 300 of your closest friends at the largest Pagan festival in Minnesota. One of the most family friendly festivals in the U.S.
• Eye of Horus Psychic Sunday, October 3, 2010 You want to go. You know you want to go.
• WiCoM Psychic Faire, Saturday November 6 Readers, vendors, ritual, and a potluck, oh my
• Meals On Broomsticks, December 25, 2010 Serve meals to the needy, and have a heck of a good time doing it.

2009: Looking Back

After looking ahead, it's natural to take a moment to look back. What were the most significant Pagan events of 2009? Here's an attempt to answer that question. These are not ranked in any particular order.

The opening of the Sacred Paths Center. Our own community center! Many Pagan communities dream of having a community center, and we've got one. Paganistan is full of win!

The death of Loui Pieper. Loui founded Evenstar Books (the direct predecessor of the Sacred Paths Center). She was a legendary tarot reader. Beloved wife, mother, and teacher. Whether you know it or not, if you are a part of Paganistan, than there is a degree to which your experience here has been touched by Loui, and therefore her absence touches you as well.

The community coming together for Ken Ra. Ken Ra is also a great teacher who has had an amazing impact on Paganistan. Ken has had health problems which resulted in large debt. This spring a fundraiser was held for Ken at the Sacred Paths Center. The amount raised was less than the amount of the debt, but it was still highly significant because it was the first time that this community came together in mass to support one of its own in such a way. This marked a moment of maturation within our spiritual community, and it also helped a man who truly deserves our help. (donations are still being accepted at http://kenandliz.wordpress.com/)

WiCoM and MCoW reuniting for a ritual. About 20 years ago there was a legendary and somewhat controversial "hiving off" from the Minnesota Church of Wicca which resulted in the creation of the Wiccan Church of Minnesota. This year they both happened to be meeting at the Sacred Paths Center at the same time, and decided to put aside past differences and reunite for a ritual. This moment stands as a perfect example of the exceptional unity this community has experienced this year.

The creation of the Paganistan Weekly newsletter. Even people who are extremely involved in the community often comment that they had no idea that there was so much going on. Pretty much everyone who puts on an event has had people show up because they read about the event in Paganistan Weekly.

And most topical of all: The creation of MNPagan.com

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.