Pagan Community Notes is a series focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. Reinforcing the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. My hope is that more individuals, especially those working within Pagan organizations, get into the habit of sharing their news with the world. So let’s get started!
Chris Keith
Last week Lansing, Michigan resident Chris Keith, and her son, Isaac, were murdered by Keith’s estranged husband, who then killed himself. This tragedy has sent shockwaves through the Michigan Pagan community, where Keith was active and had many friends, including Elayne Glantzberg, who writes of the intense grief and sense of loss. Quote: “She will never come to church with me. She will never come help teach me how to work my own urban homestead garden. Kender will never dance in her Zumba class. No more movie nights, no more nights out, no more dancing, no more. Isaac will never finish growing up. Oakley may not remember his mother when he grows up. No more. Gone. It’s not right. It’s not fair.” The Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing, of which Chris Keith was a member, has set up a memorial fund to help support her surviving children. The member of the Michigan Pagan community who sent me the link to the memorial fund added that, quote, “Chris was active not only in the Pagan community but also was an environmentalist, a home-schooler, a naturopath, and a crusader for LGBTQ rights. She was an amazing person.” What is remembered, lives. My thoughts go out to her family, and friends, during this time.
Wiccan author Gus diZerega’s new book, “Fault Lines: The Sixties, the Culture War, and the Return of the Divine Feminine,” is now out through Quest Books. At Witches & Pagans Magazine, diZerega talks about new book. Quote: “Faultlines argues that this alternative Pagan perspective is particularly appropriate for modern men and women. Further, American Christianity as well as Judaism and Buddhism is moving closer to views in harmony with these. From this perspective we Pagans are in the forefront of a spiritual transformation taking place across many religions to the degree they have not been polluted by the demonic spirituality of the religious right and equivalent movements elsewhere. We are in the midst of a struggle between a new spiritual sensibility in harmony with the needs of the modern world and an old one rooted in the hierarchy and domination and spiritual isolation that long characterized agricultural civilizations, a position that has lost what truth it once had and so focuses solely on issues of power. This struggle defines the spiritual crisis of our time, and underlies the more visible secular political and cultural struggles we are living through.” You can read endorsements of the new work at the publisher’s website.
For the first time, Circle Cemetery will be taking part in Wreaths Across America, a nationwide program that lays wreaths at gravesites honoring deceased veterans. On Saturday, December 14, 2013, Wreaths Across America ceremonies will be held at Arlington National Cemetery and at more than 900 public and private cemeteries across the nation. A multicultural and interfaith Wreaths Across America ceremony will be held at Circle Cemetery, located at Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve in the forested hills of southwestern Wisconsin near Barneveld, at Noon central time that day. “I am glad that Circle Cemetery is taking part in this program this year,” says Rev. Selena Fox, senior minister of Circle Sanctuary. “Thanks to Circle Sanctuary Community member Roberta Stewart for her work with this program and her help in making Circle Cemetery participation possible.” Roberta, who lives in Nevada, is the widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, the first Wiccan soldier killed in action in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. His grave is among those at Circle Cemetery that will be decorated with a wreath.
Bay Area Heathen Holidays, a non-aligned Heathen organization in the San Francisco Bay Area, presents the third annual Bay Area Heathen Yule Dinner on Saturday 14 December. Steven T Abell, group founder, says “This is an annual opportunity for the local Heathen community to get together beyond the boundaries of kindred or faction. All who come in peace and honor are welcome here.” Along with dinner, the event will formally recognize and welcome the local land spirits and gods of the Heathen Pantheon. Hosts Abell, Hilary Ayer, Gail DeCamp, and Robert Russell provide the major meats for this dinner: ham, lamb, goat, goose, and turkey. Attendees are asked to bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share. Heathen events are noted for excellent fare in more-than-adequate amounts. This year’s BAHY Dinner will be no exception. Beer, wine, and mead are also welcome. BAHY is held in a civic facility rented from the City of Fremont. Heathen artisans are encouraged to bring and show their wares, but city regulations do not permit sales or the exchange of money at the event. Visit Bay Area Heathen Holidays on Facebook for more details and to RSVP. Bay Area Heathen Yule Dinner 7:00 – 10:00pm Saturday 14 December Olive Hyde Art Center 123 Washington Blvd. Fremont CA 94539.
In Other Pagan Community News:
- The anthology “Rooted in the Body, Seeking the Soul,” edited by Tara “Masery* Miller, has been published. Quote: “One purpose of this anthology is to help people find comfort in the fact that they are not alone. Some of the authors turned to a magical practice as a way to find healing and the anthology includes rituals and stories about healing. Covens, circles, temples or any other type of magical group can use it as a resource toward understanding members or potential members with disabilities.”
- Another new anthology my readership may be interested in: “Essays in Contemporary Paganism.” Quote: “In this absorbing anthology twelve Pagan writers from across the globe offer a unique perspective on Paganism today in both its theoretical and practical aspects. Each writer began with a blank canvas, other than their essay must reflect a contemporary theme. In turn the essays are philosophical, practical, personal and reflective, with issues ranging from parenting to polytheism, from being a Pagan in London to the sacred landscapes of Australia, from mysticism to the World Wide Web. In their breadth these essays reflect a concern with living in a modern world, with modern technology and with understanding oneself within a tradition that is evolving and adapting to meet the needs of its adherents whilst staying true to its fundamental principles.”
- Sex blog Slutist (probably NSFW) recently named Pam Grossman of Phantasmaphile one of their “favorite feminist Witches.” Congratulations! While I’m on the subject of Ms. Grossman, the Occult Humanities Conference, which she co-organized, was written up in ArtForum. Not too shabby.
- Remember the Warrior’s Call anti-fracking ritual at Glastonbury Tor, with solidarity actions in other locations, that was held this past September? Well, Warrior’s Call now has a website up and running, with resources for Pagan who want to fight the practice of “fracking.” Quote: “On the 28th of September, 2013, one of the largest pagan rituals in history was held to weave protection around Albion and all areas currently under attack. Thousands of people on four different continents gathered on that day to stand as one against the blight of fracking. From this global event, the Warrior’s Call pagan anti-fracking movement was born.”
- Hellenion’s Musings Magazine has released issue 3! Quote: “Welcome to the third issue of Musings, Hellenion’s E-Newsletter. As we move further into December, a month traditionally seen as a time of giving, I encourage you to turn your eyes towards the less fortunate. In the state of Texas alone there are 3.4 million people living in impoverished or homeless conditions. I encourage you to seek out organizations that help the homeless and needy in your area.”
- Back in August, Friends of the Gualala River started a public action campaign to convince a winery to spare 154 acres of Gualala River’s redwood forest in California. Pagan author and activist Starhawk was on hand to do a ritual to turn “wine back into water.” Now, Starhawk notes that Friends of the Gualala River have won a favorable ruling in their court case against the winery. Quote: “The issue isn’t done yet, but the case is a victory for the people and the trees! Thank you, all who have worked on this!” More on this here.
That’s all I have for now, have a great day!
