Month: April 2011

Green Burial at Circle Sanctuary

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Spring is the time to celebrate approaching intimacy, and what is more intimate than sharing a loved one’s passing?  The first  ‘green burial’ took place at the cemetery at Circle Sanctuary in Mount Horeb, WI. this past weekend. Selena Fox presided over the ceremony. Many Pagans claim to want a green burial, but what is it like?  I talked with Robert Paxton, a Circle Sanctuary minister, who participated in funeral, as part of a community weekend at Circle Sanctuary.

Describe what the funeral experience was like?

It was very much different from any funeral I had attended. The person who had died was a long-term member of the Madison folk music and dancing scene. The funeral was a genuinely beautiful and touching event. Family and friends, about a dozen, helped with every element from carrying the casket to the gravesite. They sang song and read poetry. They spoke as they were individually moved to about the life of the person who had passed. Typically, the funeral director said, they would lower the casket into the grave, there would be just a few words and the family would step away and head down the hill. Community members were there to help fill in the grave. It didn’t go like that. We placed the casket in the grave, and the family looked over at the pile of dirt and the half-dozen shovels. They picked them up and got to work. The grave was nearly filled when they tired and the community members took over. They were very engaged in the whole process. Once the mound had risen, they took flowers from the earlier memorial service and placed them lovingly on the grave. One of the funeral party, in one of those ‘ah-ha’, deep truth moments, took a night crawler from one of the last shovelfuls of dirt.  He laid it on top of the mound and said, “Here is the first one, get to work!” It was a very loving experience. It was done very clear-eyed, we are committing these remains back to the earth. We will honor her with this last loving and personal act. At the same time they were completely realistic and open about the nature of what had happened. It was the most truthful funeral I had ever experienced.

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Heathens Gather at June 10-12th event near Twin Cities

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The Mjolnir, Heathen Symbol

I had the opportunity to interview Brody Derks of the Thule of  Volkshof  Kindred, about Heathenry and their upcoming event in June, the Northern Folk Gathering , at this years Paganicon.

Tell me about your University of Minnesota experience?

I was the president of the University of Minnesota Pagan Society, we networked with other groups around the Twin Cities. That was a wonderful experience to see all the Pagans in the surrounding area, and their diversity.  I have always been a Heathen.  I joined the Volkshof Kindred a few years ago.  Now I am a representative.  We are one of the strongest Heathen groups in the Twin Cities, and in Minnesota. We have built up our name, but there are other Kindred groups that we respect in Minnesota.

How did you know you were a Heathen?

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Community Notes; April 4-10

Birth announcement: Kiera Rhiannon was born at 11:49pm last Sunday after her mother’s water broke at Paganicon. Congratulations and welcome to the newest member of our community.

If you’ve talked with anyone who attended Paganicon, you’ve probably heard about what a great event it was. A quick overview of comments from attendees: stellar programming with great variety, astounding guest of honor, the food events were scrumptious, it was like a leadership conference with such richness of experts, the music was fabulous, everything just flowed with no major problems, the hotel was very accommodating, it ran so well that it did not seem like a first year event.

Less than a week after Paganicon, the organizers have a page up on their website about the 2011 experience. There’s even a copy of the keynote address posted. http://tcpaganpride.org/paganicon/paganicon-2011

Spring is in the air, which means we’re getting closer to fire spinning season. If you’d like to stay updated about poi spinning classes, there are often classes offered through Mystix Toys. Their next round of classes starts up April 14. You can sign up for their mailing list at their website and stay updated: http://www.mystiktoyz.com/

Registration is up for three of the big local Pagan summer camping events:
Earth House Midsummer Gather – June 19-26, 2011; http://www.earthhousemn.org/
Sacred Fire Circle In Paradise – July 14-17, 2011; http://sacredfirecircle.hawkdancing.com/
Sacred Harvest Festival – August 6-14th, 2011; http://harmonytribe.org/

There’s a Witch Sisters’ Night Out this Friday! Those are always a hoot and a half.