NorDCOG Town Hall Meeting Offers Hope For A Future

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A Town Hall meeting took place to discuss the possible closure of Northern Dawn local of the Covenant of the Goddess ( NorDCOG), Saturday at Walker Church.  The  NorDCOG First Officer said the meeting helped the long established group determine what it needs to do to survive and remain viable.

Northern Dawn Local Council of the Covenant of the Goddess  was founded in 1982 by three covens; Minnesota Church of Wicca (MnCoW), Prodea, and Rowan Tree. NorDCOG has been continually hosting public sabbats since Samhain of 1982, and has hosted the COG national gathering (Merry Meet) twice.

In the call for this town hall meeting the problem was stated as, “As a foundational and networking center we can be proud of our contribution to the success of Paganistan. But the success of the community has not been the success of Northern Dawn. With so many options for community involvement, and what may be seen as some barriers to entrance, participation in Northern Dawn’s leadership has dwindled over the years to the point that today its future is uncertain. “

The immediate cause for the meeting was the lack of participation that has become a crisis in functioning as an organization. Several board positions are unfilled, including a ritual officer, so no public rituals have been planned. Meetings have been unable to meet quorum standards, and this has prevented NorDCOG to conduct business or consider active solutions to be considered and enacted, including possible changes to the bylaws. As a local of the national organization, mandates of operation are also in place that may pose a conflict in some considered changes within the organization. Continue reading →

Community Notes; April 16-22

I’ve heard it said that locally Heathen men outnumber Heathen women two to one. I’ve also heard that Wiccan women outnumber Wiccan men two to one. There should be a mixer. So, Heathen men & Wiccan women, come to Merlin’s Rest Pub, Monday, May 7, from 7-10pm. How will we know who’s there for the mixer? Heathen men, wear something that Wiccan women can recognize as Heathen. Wiccan women, wear something that Heathen men can recognize as Wiccan. Please spread the word. http://www.facebook.com/events/377309812313258/

Monday night there’s a meet & greet at the Sacred Paths center for people trying to find groups. If you’re a seeker, please plan to attend. If you’re a group interested in members, please attend.

With a hearty sigh of relief, it would appear that the Northern Dawn Local Council of the Covenent of the Goddess will continue. There was a meeting Saturday to discuss its future, and there was definite community support and planning for its future. Northern Dawn CoG has been holding public celebrations since it’s founding, Samhain of 1982, and has hosted the CoG national gathering (Merrymeet) twice. It’s good to know that it will continue.

The BECAUSE Conference on Bisexuality will be next weekend. Learn more at http://www.becauseconference.org/

As a special note to the tree hugging dirt worshippers (like me); Earth Day is next Sunday.

Community Notes; April 9-15

The Future of Northern Dawn Local Council (CoG) will be discussed at a Town Hall meeting at Walker Community United Methodist Church this Saturday at 6pm. The Northern Dawn Local Council of the Covenant of the Goddess has served the Twin Cities Pagan community for over 30 years. http://www.facebook.com/events/271580256253033/

There was an article in the PNC last week about local Pagan podcasts. That’s yet another way in which our community is excelling: https://pncminnesota.com/2012/04/05/local-pagans-offer-podcasts/

There will be a CD release party at the Sacred Paths Center this Friday, for three CDs produced by Rhythmpriest. Two CDs from Murphey’s Midnight Rounders, and one from Ailinn. There will be live music. http://www.facebook.com/events/339101516127766/

Local Tarot professional extraordinaire, Barbara Moore recently published another new Tarot Deck, the Steam Punk Tarot. If you’ve talked with Barbara in the last two years, then you know what a passion this deck has been to create. She will be having a book signing this Saturday at Magus Books & Herbs, and a launch party extravaganza May 5th at the Eye of Horus.

Highway cleanup went very well yesterday. Many hands made light work and mother Earth is a little less littered. Thank you to the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance for allowing our community the opportunity to perform such a fulfilling service.

The Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance adopted a stretch of highway in 2008. Twice a year, local Pagans (like you) gather to pick up litter and beautify a piece of the Earth. Our stretch of highway is about 2 miles of I-35E a few miles before it rejoins I-35W in the north

It’s difficult to describe the highway cleanup and convey how enjoyable it was. There was a playfulness to the outing. The sense of discovery at the bizarre things to be found. The challenge of getting that half buried tire to the side of the road. The joy of time spent with wonderful people.

Saturday was not the warmest day we’ve had lately. The clouds threatened rain and provided a mist. This turned out to be the perfect weather for cleaning up the highway. We weren’t too warm. We didn’t get sunburns. The bugs weren’t biting.

Our stretch of highway is being redone, so right now there’s only one side open, which means we only had to clean one side of the interstate. The side we were cleaning had been recently landscaped, so there wasn’t a lot of litter.

We split into two teams to start at either end and meet in the middle. One team walked down the off-ramp to start their clean-up. The other was dropped off down the road where we had to climb over a fence capped with barbed wire to get to the highway. Although this sounds unpleasant, it turned into a playful team-build as the obstacle was overcome.

After about an hour and a half, it began to rain. It wasn’t cold, and the rain was somewhat refreshing. If it hadn’t been for regulations requiring that we not cleanup in the rain, we would have continued. The two teams were close enough to be able to see each other at that point, with not a lot of litter in between.

This spring’s highway cleanup project was very enjoyable. I hope to see many of you this fall as we clean-up our stretch of highway again.