Category: News

Sacred Spaces: Celtic Temple, Part 1

4 Comments

Many Pagan groups share the dream of building some type of sacred space.  A temple, a community center, a permanent altar.  It remains a dream because they lack the information, skills, and experience to bring it into reality.  Yet other groups have accomplished what can seem, at times, impossible.  They have learned how to raise funds, deal with city inspectors, and overcome challenges that have stymied the rest of us.  We can learn from them and they are eager to share their successes and mistakes so that more Pagans can have their very own Sacred Space.

In part one of this series, PNC-Minnesota looks at a Celtic temple in Northeast Minneapolis.  Temple priest, Drew Jacob, explains why the group wanted to build a temple, how they were able to work within city building codes, and why doing things by the book is a step forward for the Pagan community.

All this week Sacred Spaces continues with more from Drew Jacob of Temple of the River.  For Part 2 of the series, please click here. Next week, we talk to Sacred Paths Center about how to create a sustainable Pagan community center.

Pagan Spirit Gathering Returns to the Upper Midwest

After an absence from the Midwest for over ten years, PSG, is back! At about a 7 hour drive from the Twin Cities, it will likely tempt those who have attended local festivals that have sprung up since previous site moves. The SE Ohio Wisteria, and Southern Missouri Camp Zoe locations represented about 730, and 850 mile drives, from Minneapolis.

In difficult economic times, festival attendance around the country was generally down in 2010. PSG has long had a loyal following wherever it has moved, and the new site will certainly draw more from the Chicago area. Confronting the classic dilemma, Pagans with either a shortage of time, or funds, will have a more difficult choice in the Midwest this year!

From Circle’s Press Release:

Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG), a week-long national celebration of Summer Solstice & Community, has a new site.

PSG 2011 will be held June 19-26 at Stonehouse Park, a beautiful, rural historical re-enactment campground near Earlville in Northern Illinois, about 80 miles west of downtown Chicago.
Continue reading →

Pagan Coming Out Day – Interview

3 Comments

Pagan Coming Out Day – Interview with Cara Schulz from Diana Rajchel on Vimeo.

Perhaps the most critical decision a Pagan faces is whether to practice the given faith open, or secretly. To open up even to trusted loved ones can risk loss: loss of job, loss of family, even loss of trust. At the same time, speaking openly “this is my faith” can come with the rewards of relief and freedom. No more praying that no one notices “doctor’s appointments” coinciding with the full moon. No more negotiating ways to avoid church at Easter. No more lying to your grandmother. The day has come, if you’re ready, to speak your truth. That day is May 2nd.

Designated as International Pagan Coming Out Day (IPCOD), and sponsored by an organization of the same name, May 2nd is your day to share your spirituality with someone you love.

Continue reading →

PNC-Minnesota – a year of growth – Editorial

From cocyeabroomstick.blogspot.com

PNC-Minnesota began about five months ago (we had five initial posts in July). We believe we have had a substantial impact within our community, region, and nationally.  Our readership is mainly Pagan, but our audience ranges the whole spectrum based on subject. We have had just over 99,000 page views since we began on July 28th, 2010

Our top viewed post with 12, 542 views in one day on Nov. 9th, (   Rape Survivor Devastated by TSA Enhanced Pat Down by Cara Schulz ), has completely skewed our stats, but that is the nature of the internet.   Cara saw an emerging issue, and knew the additional impact it could have for victims of assault and jumped on the story. National blogs (including mainstream news like ‘Newsweek‘ and even Wikipedia ) linked to her article and resulted in that one post generating 84% of our page views this year!  Cara’s past media experience and her  ‘nose for news’ that she brought to PNC-Minnesota has been invaluable. Cara also writes for PNC’s Pagans and Politics.

Continue reading →

Rape Survivor Devastated by TSA Enhanced Pat Down

180 Comments

An area Wiccan discovered first hand what most of us are still unaware of – many flyers are now being forced to choose between allowing a TSA agent to see them naked or to have their genitals touched and squeezed as part of what the TSA terms “enhanced pat downs.”  Celeste, a survivor of rape, described her experience with the new TSA procedures as devastating.

Celeste is a seasoned air traveler. She estimates that she flies upwards of 60 times a year for her job and she knows all the ins and outs of most airports in the USA. Want to know which airport has the best sushi? Celeste can tell you. What she, and most other people didn’t know, was that on October 29th the TSA changed their security guidelines. “I flew to Chicago with no problems.  Everything was the same as before.  It was when I attempted to fly back to Minnesota that I found out about TSA’s new rules.  What they did to me, in full view of everyone else in line, was like being sexually assaulted all over again.  I was in shock.  I hate myself that I allowed them to do this to me.  I haven’t been able to stop crying since.”

Continue reading →