Category: Community Notes

Community Member In Need: Lola Fundraiser and Healing Ritual

[Disclosure: This is more of an editorial than an article as the author is friends with the subject and was unable to be unbiased and objective.]

Lola is one of the kindest, sweetest, most positive people you will ever meet. And a few months ago she was diagnosed with terminal Stage 4 Melanoma.

Here is her story in her own words:

Lola was welcoming to me when I first came to Paganistan. She was unfailingly kind, and always available to hang out when I needed a friend. Lola gave me an incredible gift when after not being able to give for a long time she let me offer her hospitality to her when she needed it. Being able to offer her a meal and a place to crash on occasion was a huge boost to my self-esteem and spirituality and I am so grateful to her for that. She is one of the finest people I know.

When I spoke to Lola for information for this post she was cheerful and happy. She was helping her sister’s children prepare a Mother’s Day surprise for her sister. She never mentioned her pain, her needs, or her personal desires. She spoke to me of the financial commitments she had made to her sister, of her love for her sister, and of her desire that her sister not suffer financially while Lola copes with terminal cancer.

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Lola and Katie celebrating getting the keys to the home they currently share.

Lola told me about how she and her sister were roommates years ago, and how close they have remained over the years. Her sister is a single mom who wanted a better place to raise her children and needed help to do that, and she and Lola were so excited to be living together again. Before she realized she was sick Lola told me about how excited she was to be there for her family, to be more present in their lives, and to be creating this new future with her sister. You can hear the love in her voice when Lola talks about her family, and you can hear that for her the most devastating thing about this dire prognosis is the impact it will have on the people she loves.

Lola was told at one point that she might not make it past May, but she is looking forward to attending EarthHouse’s midsummer festival and finally making it to Pagan Spirit Gathering. She is a fighter, and her spirit is indomitable. She is living wholeheartedly in spite of her advanced cancer. She is still working as a massage therapist. She is still devoted to her family. She is still a positive influence on her many friends. She is amazing and she needs our help.

Lola is trying to raise funds to help her bridge the gap until her disability kicks in this August. She can no longer work full-time, her sister depends on her help to make rent and pay utilities, and she is facing losing her car within the next week. She needs love and support, but she also really needs cash to make it through the next few months. She’s not even really asking as much for herself as she is to help honor the commitment she made to her sister.

A fundraiser and healing ritual for Lola is being held Saturday, May 30th, 2015 at Michael Servetus Unitarian Society in Fridley, MN from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. From 11 to 1 is a “buy a bowl” fundraiser potluck with an all-you-can-eat bowl for $5, and the healing ritual will take place from 1:30 to 2:30. There will be a silent auction and lawn games for both adults and kids. A beaded necklace is being made for Lola and you are encouraged to bring a bead to add to it. The dinner is a potluck and you are also encouraged to bring a dish to share.

To contribute an item to the silent auction, or for any other questions, you can e-mail Nikki at nikki.wakal@gmail.com.

If you can’t attend but would still like to contribute to the fundraiser you can make a donation on Lola’s YouCare page: Help My Sister After I Pass On.

For updates or to RSVP to the fundraiser you can join the Facebook event: Lola Fundraiser and Healing Ritual.

If you can’t attend or donate online sharing this information via social media is a great way to help out.

It is my hope that Lola isn’t only able to raise the funds to meet her needs, but that the community can support her in living to the fullest as she battles terminal cancer. I hope Lola can to go to the festivals she wants to go to and over the next few months feel the love and support of her community.

My thanks to PNC:MN for sharing this with the community.

Veterans Honored at Paganicon

Ceremony Begins

Ceremony Begins

Last Sunday, March fifteenth,  during the afternoon tea at the conclusion of Paganicon,  seven veterans who served in various branches of the armed forces were honored.  In a community ceremony of recognition and appreciation, Selena Fox presented the Pagan Military Service Ribbon to Pagans who have served or are serving in the US Armed Forces.

Honored Veterans, Selena Fox at left

Honored Veterans, Selena Fox at left

Pictured from top, clockwise are Wayne Sears, John Farrow, Herbert Cook Roy, Celeste Proe, Shawn Burns, Debbie Olson, and Tamia Finnegan. They received their pin to the applause of appreciation and support from the over hundred community members present.

 

The Ribbon pin, created by Circle Sanctuary in 2011, is being presented to Pagan veterans and troops around the country who request it. If you are a veteran please visit the ribbon website to participate in the honoring recognition.

Please congratulate these service members!

Nels Linde

Paganicon Guest Lupa Greenwolf – Interview

Lupa Greenwolf

Lupa is a pagan author, artist, eco-psychologist and amateur naturalist living in Portland, OR. She has spent her life being utterly captivated by the natural world around her, a fascination that led her to earth-based spiritual paths. She is the author of several books on nature spirituality, including “New Paths to Animal Totems: Three Alternative Approaches to Creating Your Own Totemism” (Llewellyn, 2012) and “Plant and Fungus Totems: Connecting With Spirits of Field, Forest and Garden” (Llewellyn 2014).

Paganicon 5 will be Friday, March 13, – Sunday, March 15, 2015  and registration is still available at the door.

I interviewed Lupa by phone recently.

 

Nels: Is this the first time you’ve come to the Midwest ?

Lupa: I am very excited to attend! I grew up in the Midwest, but this is only my second time visiting Minneapolis.

Where did you grow up?

Lupa:  I grew up in rural Missouri. Then I lived for two years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which some people consider the Eastern edges of the Midwest.

What is bio-regional totemism, the subject of one of your workshops?

Lupa:  A bio-region is a particular area of land that has the same basic types of animals, plants, and fungi. The same geology and the same climate. For example I live in the watershed of the Willamette River and for the most part the living beings that you find here, the types of geological formation are similar throughout the area. This is one particular bio-region I spend time in. Bio-regional totemism is a way to connect with the land that you live on. Similar to the totems of the beings that also live there. Using the bio-region as a way defining that space of land.

Will an animal present as a different kind of a totem in a different bio-region?

Lupa:   No, not in my experience. I have worked with animals indifferent bio-regions, for example a red tailed hawk I’ve worked with both in the Midwest and out here in the Pacific Northwest. It is still a red tailed hawk in both locations. The setting that we meet in during my meditation is a little different. It is still the same being, it just may have different things to say about a particular piece of land as I’m living on it.

Are you using your own personal gnosis and meditation in your spirit work, or where does this information come from?

Lupa:  I am self taught as far are my knowledge and work goes. I am a white girl from the Midwest. While I have known a few folks who practice indigenous paths I am not a part of those cultures and also not part of the cultures of my ancestors, Czech and German and so forth. I grew up primarily here in the US and that is the cultural background that I came from. I grew up in a Catholic household and didn’t have an animistic tradition to are draw on already, I had to create one from scratch based on my own experiences and trading notes with other practitioners .

Continue reading →

Beloved High Priestess Passes – Mary Kay Lundmark

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Mary Kay Lundmark

Mary Kay Lundmark

Mary Kay Lundmark passed over at age 52 on Thursday, February 19, 2015 in her home holding husband Patt’s hand, after a hard fought battle with cancer.

 

She was born November 26, 1962 the daughter of Claude and Janet (Thompson) Lundmark. She was a graduate of Virginia High School and St. Olaf College in Northfield. Mary Kay married Patrick Germer in St. Louis Park, MN in 1994. She grew up in Virginia and lived in Minneapolis prior to returning to Virginia in 2005.

Services will be held 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Virginia, MN

 

Husband, Patt has requested contributions to help cover extensive medical costs Mary Kay incurred be sent to patt@owlsfoot.net via Paypal. The need is dire.

With Husband Patt at Jay Cooke State Park

With Husband Patt at Jay Cooke State Park

Mary Kay Lundmark was a passionate reader and loved to go travelling and camping.She belonged to “The Honorable Order of American Co-Masonry”, and the “Sons of Norway”Haarfager Lodge #40.

Described as a most loyal and caring friend and priestess,  Mary Kay chose to avoid the lime light.  She took a major supportive role in many peoples craft and online spiritual paths, and was known to many who never met her in person.

Mary Kay Lundmark was raised in Virginia, Mn- up on the Iron Range- by a nice Scandinavian- Lutheran family. She was always a deeply religious person- and was very involved with Christian groups, Bible study, missionary trips, etc. up through her college years and into her mid- twenties.

At some point, she got deeply interested in Christian mysticism, which lead to study of ecstatic states, and eventually to the Craft. She was deeply intellectually curious about all things shamanic, traditional craft, historical craft, etc. Her first teachers were Gardnerian, and thus she stayed with the Gardnerian tradition for the rest of her life.

Mary Kay with Helga

Mary Kay with Helga

Mary Kay always had side studies in pre-monotheistic practices of many cultures: from Ancient Greek, to Old Welsh Folk Magic, to Ancient Peruvian and more. She had an astoundingly large personal library of books including all things psychic, shamanic, historical, tantric, Goddess and God related. Mary Kay had the largest collection of traditional Gardnerian and other British Traditional Craft Books of Shadows that I know of.

Mary Kay was also an extrovert who LOVED talking Craft to anyone and everyone she could meet. She ran several e-mail lists for different witch groups, and was active on most of the rest. Thus, the entire trad-craft community in the upper-Midwest came to rely on her as THE PERSON to contact with questions about Oath-bound materials, making connections with other witches in America or around the world, or clarifying a question about how certain practices are done, or who to ask next.

Mary Kay loved ritual more than just about anything else in this world. It was fun to circle with her- because she brought such joy and passion to the worship of our Gods. I have never met a person more fiercely in love with Craft than her. I feel her loss very deeply. I think she had a lot of very important things yet to contribute– and now those beautiful ideas and deep knowledge have gone with her.

Helga Hedgewalker –  Mary Kay and Patrick’s second female initiate, but still only one of many, many people proudly “down-line” from them in the lineage. Continue reading →

Pagans to Join ReclaimMLK March on Monday

If you haven’t seen social media, or national news, or been to Mall of America, or even seen the Oscar nominations, you have been hiding. Black Lives Matter! There is a movement afoot to wake America up, and Monday you can help shake us from our slumber!

For Minnesota Pagans, this movement has stimulated a lot of online debate, analysis of our privilege, and discussion of our response.  Well, “Words are Wind”, and Monday many Pagans hope to change that with action. Several area Pagans have pledged on social media to attend the march, and some are meeting in advance to make signage and arrive together.

http://fergusonaction.com organizers are encouraging this weekend of events to reclaim the legacy of Martin Luther King with national resistance to injustice and demand action. The TC metro area has a March planned for Monday 1/19/15 at 1:00 PM in St. Paul, MN at. Snelling and University Ave .

From the Facebook event:

Join us for a March to #ReclaimMLK as part of a national day of action.We can’t stop now. Eyes on the prize. Text @BlackLives to 23559 for action updates

Martin Luther King Jr’s life’s work was the elevation, honoring, and defense of Black Lives. His tools included non-violent civil disobedience and direct action. Dr. King was part of a larger movement of women, and men, queer, and straight, young and old. This movement was built on a bold vision that was radical, principled, and uncompromising. The freedom fighters who believed in this vision were called impractical, rash, irrational, and naive. Their tactics were controversial. Some elders distanced themselves from what was then a new movement for change. Some of the older generation joined in. Our movement draws a direct line from the legacy of Dr. King.

Unfortunately, Dr. King’s legacy has been clouded by efforts to soften, sanitize, and commercialize it. Impulses to remove Dr. King from the movement that elevated him must end. We resist efforts to reduce a long history marred with the blood of countless women and men into iconic images of men in suits behind pulpits.

From here on, MLK weekend will be known as a time of national resistance to injustice.This MLK weekend we will walk in the legacy of Dr. King and the movement that raised him. We will #ReclaimMLK http://fergusonaction.com/reclaim-mlk/

OUR DEMANDS:

Our basic demands are an immediate end to the unjust police murders of unarmed Black people, including Black children and teens, and for Minnesota to take measures to eliminate our worst in the country racial disparities. Our initial policy demands include:

1. Adopt statewide legislation to end racial profiling.
2. Require all Minnesota law enforcement officers to take implicit bias and cultural competency training.
3. Establish an independent community review board for police departments with full disciplinary powers and establish a federal oversight system.
4. Increase the number of officers that live in the communities they serve and immediately repeal the 1990 “Stanek Residency Freedom Bill.”
5. De-militarize local law enforcement across the country.

We also demand that Bloomington City attorney Sandra Johnson and the Mall of America halt the outrageous charges and restitution for “lost revenue” and “police overtime” being threatened against “organizers” of our peaceful gathering at the MOA. This is an evolving list. We want to form a community commission to address the biggest racial disparities in policing in the United States now. We won’t wait. Black lives are at stake. We remember Terrance Franklin.

BlackLivesMatterMinneapolis

 

Nels Linde