Category: Happenings

PSG Report: Serendipity

Something that brings people back to Pagan festivals over and over, yet is hard to convey to those who haven’t attended a festival are the conversations that organically happen throughout the festival. You may be sitting at your campsite and a stranger will stop by and the next thing you know, you’ve spent an hour chatting with one another and a friendship is formed. Or a BNP (Big Name Pagan) may hear the sound of your martini shaker going and you learn more during that conversation than you have from a bookshelf of Pagan books.

I’m shameless about luring people to my campsite with booze and food. I consider it an even trade – you give some of your limited time during a festival and I will feed you. I enjoy being a host and I love guests.

One guest who wandered into my campsite was Patrick McCollum. He was tired, very hungry, and extremely friendly. The conversation ranged from early Pagan history to a very special instrument he was carrying. The instrument, a violin, had a story behind it.  And like the really good stories that stick with you, this one had a lesson behind it.

Patrick McCollum at PSG 2011

Patrick was moved to make a violin.  no, he told us, he had no experience in making instruments.  He just felt he wanted to do this.  He made it over a period of years.  A bit of gifted wood from this trip, inlaying some carved willow from a sacred site, more ethically harvested wood from another place.  Finally, it was ready for the lacquer.   He mixed it himself, let it dry.  Put the strings on, raised his bow….and it sounded like shit.

What went wrong?  He sanded the lacquer off, remixed a new batch, and then let it dry.  It still sounded like shit.  but not as bad as before.  So he put it away for about 6 months.  The violin sat in the dark, away but not forgotten, until Patrick took it out once more and played it.

Detail of the inlaid willow on the violin

It sounded pretty good!  What had changed?  He hadn’t done anything different to it.  The temperature was the same, humidity was the same.  The difference was the violin had time to sit.  To incubate.  Time and darkness to Become.  Patrick told us sometimes that’s what we need to do with our ideas – allow them to sit and develop and become.

I’m a person who jumps in and wants to DO.  Plan and execute.  This story from Patrick wasn’t just a neat story, but is a new modern, Pagan fable that can enter our storytelling.  It  shows our ethics in how he gathered the materials and didn’t just take and cause harm to the environment.  Our curiosity and desire to create is shown in his drive to make an instrument himself, even though he had no experience in instrument making.  When he didn’t get it perfect, he didn’t take it personally.  He accepted it as a learning experience and utilized it.  And finally…it is a very Pagan concept to see darkness not as an enemy, but as a positive place of possibility and incubation and magic.

Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance Cleans Up! – Editorial

The highway cleanup on Interstate 35E, sponsored by the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance (UMPA),  took place Saturday June 4th. The cleanup had been delayed by the storms that swept through the Twin Cities the weekend of May 21st. A cheerful group of seven met,  and after going over safety and procedure concerns, hit the road by 11am.  It was a beautiful summer day!

UMPA sign view headed South on 35E

We split into two teams and also had vehicle support with water, bars, and sandwiches nearby. With no adjacent fast food, the pickings were light with the exception of a few with a taste for “Ice House’ beer making frequent deposits!  By about 2pm the ending overpass was in sight, and it had heated up a bit.  On cue a generous breeze made the remaining cleanup feel much easier. This was the first spring cleanup of this site near Hugo, MN., after the move from Coon Rapids. With three on a side, we had just enough volunteers to cover it in one pass. The site could easily accommodate seventeen volunteers (8 per side,  4 teams working to the middle, and support people) and make the service a less demanding two-hour task. The site feels very rural and we always find something naturally beautiful or interesting along the way.

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Gathering at Ft Snelling Honors the Fallen

For the third year in a row Pagans in the Twin Cities area gathered to honor all fallen Service Members and hold a special ritual for fallen Pagan Service Members.   There are now two headstones in the Ft. Snelling Cemetery that bear pentacles – one for Sgt. Jason Schumann and the other for Specialist Daniel Schrankler.

The Crego family place offerings during the Memorial Day observance

This year over 40 area Pagans attended the event, including entire families.  Tracy Jarvinen, one of the organizers for this memorial observance, said, “We honor all of the soldiers who have fought for our freedoms. We give special attention to Jason Schumann and Daniel Schrankler because as they had once fought for our freedoms, Joe and I, and many, many others helped fight for their freedom to be buried under the Pentacle. It is bringing things full circle.”

Just a few years ago, neither headstone could have legally been marked with a pentacle. The years long legal battle to force the VA to include the pentacle on its list of approved religious symbols is, as Dr Murphy Pizza describes it, “a bittersweet victory;  celebrating a hard-won right also brings with it the acknowledgment of the growing number of Pagan military folks and the sacrifices that they are making in order for this and other rights to be upheld.”

Headstone for Sgt. Jason Schumann

The Twin Cities Pagan community was active and engaged in the VA Pentacle Quest and continues to show fallen warriors honor each Memorial Day through offerings, words, and by comforting their family members in their time of grief.  That comfort can reach across long distances.  The mother of Sgt. Schumann sent this message,

Dear Tracy and Joe,

Thank you for honoring my son’s grave!  We moved last year to Indiana, and it breaks my heart I could not be there, but I am comforted knowing that he was surrounded by people to honor and remember him. 

Blessed Be )O(“

Each person in attendance left a flower or token at the headstones of Jason Schumann and Daniel Schrankler. The Honor Guard created the sacred space for all to honor. An attendee who is a Vietnam Veteran read the poem, credited to General George S Patton Jr :

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Memorial Day Event

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Once again, area Pagans gather at Ft. Snelling to honor Sgt. Jason Schumann and Specialist Daniel Schrankler as part of a Memorial Day observance.  Other fallen soldiers are also remembered and honored in a ceremony at their gravesites at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The ritual is conducted by Joe and Tracy Jarvinen and their family.
  • Monday, May 30 · 10:00am – 1:00pm
  • Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • For more information about the ritual, contact  rhavyn_moon@yahoo.com
Jarvinen requests that people arrive at Sgt. Schumann’s grave by 10 am. The ceremony includes the speaking of his name and the placing of flowers. Participants are invited to bring one or more fresh flowers to place at each soldier’s grave and Pentacle headstone.

There will be a potluck following the ceremony. Pagans of all paths are invited to take part in the ritual.

A Weekend, and interview, with T Thorn Coyle

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Popular author, musician, and speaker T Thorn Coyle is traveling the continent signing copies of her most recent book, Kissing the Limitless, giving talks and teaching workshops.  This weekend, she comes to the Twin Cities.   PNC-Minnesota caught up with this busy and dynamic mystic to talk about her Paganistan weekend.

What:  Bringing Intention into Action
When:  Friday May 27th 7-8PM
Where:  Eye of Horus
Cost:  Free talk and book signing

What:  Weekend workshop intensive, Your Divine Work
When:  Saturday May 28th – Sunday May 29th
Where:  Eye of Horus
Cost:  $150 – registration needed

T Thorn CoylePNC-Minnesota:  How did it happen that you are coming to the Twin Cities for the workshop and book signing?

T Thorn Coyle:  The Twin Cities are home to many people who have studied with me over the years, or whom I’ve worked magic with in various ways. The thriving community in the area has always been very welcoming to me and I’ve been coming here off and on since my first book “Evolutionary Witchcraft” was published. Last time I was out, I taught at Sacred Paths Center in St. Paul, and gave a talk at Eye of Horus. At the time, Jane expressed interest in having me back out to teach at Eye of Horus itself.

PNC-Minnesota:  I know you’ve been very busy traveling lately, but will you be able to sightsee while in the Twin Cities? Going to any of our Sacred Spots, visiting the Celtic temple, or the Pagan Community Center?

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