Sacred Path Center – Update – Interview with CJ Stone, Board spokesman

July 9, 2011July 13, 20115 Comments

The Sacred Paths Center (SPC) Board met for their regularly scheduled meeting last night, however all scheduled business was tabled to focus on the financial affairs of the Center. A board quorum was present, and several Board members contributed to the discussion by phone. The SPC website now has installed a fund-raising thermometer to depict their progress toward the immediate $7500 goal, of which half will be matched by other donations. They are currently at 20% of this goal.

*NOTE. The Sacred Paths Center is continually updating their website with fund raising progress and new events. Please check their website for updates on their current situation !

CJ Stone, Board member, has been delegated spokesman for the Sacred Paths Center. I was able to interview him last night, Friday July 8th, after the Board meeting.

What is the financial status of the SPC?

CJ Stone, Board Member, spokesman:

The immediate needs to keep the doors temporarily open were covered. The Center needs 7500 dollars to continue to operate through this month. The Board has decided that 12,000 was what we needed by midnight of July 30^th or we will close the facility. If we can secure that 12k dollars, we can pay our bills to zero and have a positive balance to keep the center open and by able to steer the Center in a direction that will be financially viable.

What changes would make it viable? Continue reading →

Sacred Paths Center in Crisis – Broke, Closure Imminent

July 7, 2011July 7, 201115 Comments

From The SPC website: http://sacredpathscenter.com/ :

Sacred Paths Center, the Spiritual/Pagan Center, open to all, first of its kind in the United States, is broke.

“What, AGAIN?”

Yes.

“Now why?”

Simple: lack of YOUR support. This message will reach thousands and thousands, but how many of you will care enough to do anything?

A physical banner has been put in the ground here, proclaiming this area as sacred to us; SPC is that banner. “Pagan Community”, “Paganistan”…it seems they are just words. There are thousands of us here in the Twin Cities metro, and among us all, we can’t give $3000 a month to keep that banner standing open. What does that say—really say—about “Pagan Community”? Less than a dollar each, and yet… Continue reading →

PNC Adds New International Bureau

July 2, 2011July 1, 20112 Comments

Joining South America, Spain has become the second international bureau of the Pagan Newswire Collective.

Jason Pitzl-Waters, Projects Cordinator for PNC, says “The Pagan Newswire Collective is proud to welcome its first European bureau, and hopes this is just the beginning of bringing coverage of the international Pagan movement to our readers.”

One of their first articles is an announcement of an Iberian Goddess Conference to be held in Madrid July 7th – 10th. The conference includes rituals to honor the patron of the conference, the goddess Iberia. The event is the second such conference organized by the association “We call on the Goddess.” The group sees the conference as a way to contribute to a more egalitarian society through female divinity and to revive knowledge about female deities that have existed throughout history and to share that mythos.

In addition to the main PNC-Spain website, you can also find PNC-Spain on twitter and on facebook.

Crystal Blanton – National Guest at Sacred Harvest Festival – Interview

June 29, 201110 Comments

Author Crystal Blanton

I had the opportunity to interview Crystal Blanton about her appearance as featured guest at this years Sacred Harvest Festival presented by Harmony Tribe, inc. Blanton’s first book, Bridging the Gap, was published in 2010 with Megalithic/ Immanion Press. Her new work, ” Shades of Faith; Minority Voices in Paganism” is forthcoming. Included at bottom is the content of her main workshop offerings at Sacred Harvest Festival.

What do you hope to offer our community at SHF?

The scope of the work that I do is centered around group dynamics and learning how to navigate some of these dynamics in our community. To help with promoting healthier spiritual experiences for people. I take a lot of that material from being a counselor in my day life. I take the skill I use in my everyday job and bring them over to our spiritual community. Many spiritual communities have already done this, it is just we haven’t gotten to that place yet in the Pagan community. I will bring a lot of tools and skills around how to navigate certain group dynamics, how to create more communicative communities, how to navigate conflict and disruptions that can happen in any community dynamic. We’ll cover how to learn and pass on these concepts and tools after the workshops. To create a general sense of optimism in adding these tools that can help to enhance our community at large. That is what I hope to bring to the festival. Continue reading →

Kari Tauring joins PNC-Minnesota

June 10, 2011June 10, 20111 Comment

Kari Tauring joins PNC-Minnesota as a reporter to cover the Heathen beat. Ms. Tauring is the author of two books and holds a Bachelor of Arts Double Major English and Philosophy and a Masters of Arts from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul.

Ms Tauring is deeply tied into the Heathen community and will use her insights and contacts to bring readers news about the events and people of her religious community. Tauring is a Völva, Old Norse for staff carrier. She has twenty plus years of scholarship and practice of runes, stav, poetry, songs, dances, and the healing and spiritual arts.