Coldwater Spring:Amazing Double Sky Event Dec.20/21st

December 16, 2010December 15, 20102 Comments

Celebrate an Amazing Double Sky Event at Coldwater Spring: A Full Moon—Winter Solstice Eclipse!

Join us this night in a “Devotion to Sweet Darkness,” Monday, December 20 at midnight into Tuesday, December 21, 2010

On the darkest night of the year, celebrate the full moon lunar eclipse—an amazing double sky event, outdoors, at the last sacred spring in Hennepin County. The eclipse, visible here, begins at 12:32 AM Tuesday morning and is full at 2:13 AM. A special permit from National Park Service has been secured for this rite. (Normally Coldwater Park is closed at sundown.)

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Review – Alt for Norge (All for Norway)

December 15, 2010December 15, 20101 Comment

Editor’s note: If you missed seeing episode 1, it will air again at Merlins Rest Pub on December 28th.

Last night I attended the Minneapolis premier of the Norwegian reality tv show Alt for Norge. The draw, for me, in attending was two-fold: a) I’ll take any excuse to go to Merlins Rest Pub and b) local musician and Völva, Kari Tauring, was a contestant in the show.

Kari Tauring at Merlins Rest Pub - photo credit, Jeff Wheeler of the Star Tribune

To read an interview with Kari Tauring about the TV show, see this article.

The show, a contest that pits 10 Americans of Norwegian heritage against one another for a prize of $50,000 and a chance to meet their Norwegian relatives, was charming. Watching the show for the breathtaking views of Norway is worth it. Add in the very diverse contestants and the quirky challenges they face and you have the makings of a very enjoyable and engaging program. While watching the show the crowd of approximately 25 people of all ages cheered for Kari whenever she was on the screen. Towards the end of the first episode we clapped and Kari, who was present at the Pub and going from table to table visiting with everyone who attended, took a bow when she was awarded the Norwegian Spirit Award.

However, that isn’t what made the evening go from pleasantly interesting to riveting. It was the Q & A session after the program, and possibly the two hard ciders I had, that made the experience not to be missed. Kari told us that during the taping of the show she felt very isolated, despite making friends with some of the other contestants. “It was a different experience for me than it was for anyone else there,” says Kari. One of the examples she gave highlighted this difference. “When we were at the Unification monument everyone else was lifting a glass to cheer King Harald, but for me it was a very profound moment. This was a place of civil war, like Gettysburg. This was where a monotheist High King won over the democratic Heathen petty Kings. It wasn’t a ‘Yay, King Harald!’ moment for me.”

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See Kari Tauring in Norwegian Reality Show Tonight

December 14, 2010December 15, 20101 Comment

Merlins Rest Pub plays host TONIGHT to a showing of the first episode of Alt for Norge, a Norwegian reality show that took ten Americans with Norwegian ancestry and had them compete for a prize of $50,000 and a chance to meet their Norwegian relatives. Kari will give a brief introduction at 5:30 and start the episode at 6. Each episode is mostly in English as the contestants do not speak Norwegian.

Alt fo Norge (All for Norway) Contestants. Kari Tauring is front row, third from the left

While the participants came from all over the United States, four of the ten were from Minnesota, including our own Kari Tauring. Kari Tauring is best known throughout the Pagan community as a Staving musician, rune reader, and Völva, which is a type of Nordic Shaman.

The first episode started at Prekestolen where they were challenged to hike down to Prekestolshytta. Other challenges were preparing something called a matpakke and figuring out what to buy for dinner by translating from a list. The clip below is from the first episode of the which will be shown in its entirety tonight.

PNC Minnesota caught up to the very busy Kari and asked her how she ended up on a Norwegian reality show. (Interview behind the cut)

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IMAGINE PEACE – Tues Dec.14th, Rochester, MN

December 11, 2010December 14, 2010

IMAGINE PEACE WINTER SOLSTICELEBRATION

Dec. 14th from 6-8:30 p.m.

First Unitarian Universalist Church

1727 Walden lane s.w. – Rochester, Mn.

In the deep of Winter we remember our losses and what endures. Join us on this years longest night for a “Winter Solsticelebration” of dance, poetry, song, story telling. Ritual to convey the concepts of peace, love, transcendence, creativity; understanding to create a deeply moving journey into imagining peace all year long. We encourage colorful dress !

Please bring 1 can of food to donate to Channel 1 food bank. Hope to see you there.

Major Local Events for 2011

December 10, 2010December 10, 20101 Comment

Many people will soon be submitting their 2011 time off requests, and so now is a good time to look at the major events scheduled for 2011. They are not all Pagan events, but they are events for which many people in our community have expressed extreme fanatical interest.

MarsCon

March 4-6, 2011
A local science fiction convention

Paganicon

Friday, March 25 – Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Twin Cities NEW Pagan gathering. For years the Twin Cities pagan Pride celebration has been the single largest Pagan event in the Twin Cities and one of the largest Pagan pride celebrations in the nation, but it was always torn between the desire to fulfill the Pagan Pride mission and the desire to provide top-notch programming. The solution was Paganicon.

Paganicon is an opportunity to build the programming beyond the Pagan Pride model. This is the sort of programming for which the nearest options were at camping festivals. Paganicon offers excellent programming in the far more accessible location of a local Hotel.

The Twin Cities already has the greatest Pagan community in the nation, and now we have our very own convention. This could become one of the major Pagan events in the nation. Come to Paganicon this year and you’ll be able to say that you were there at the very beginning.