PNC Adds New International Bureau

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Joining South America, Spain has become the second international bureau of the Pagan Newswire Collective.

Jason Pitzl-Waters, Projects Cordinator for PNC, says “The Pagan Newswire Collective is proud to welcome its first European bureau, and hopes this  is just the beginning of bringing coverage of the international Pagan movement to our readers.”

One of their first articles is an announcement of an Iberian Goddess Conference to be held in Madrid July 7th – 10th.  The conference includes rituals to honor the patron of the conference, the goddess Iberia.  The event is the second such conference organized by the association “We call on the Goddess.”   The group sees the conference as a way to contribute to a more egalitarian society through female divinity and to revive knowledge about female deities that have existed throughout history and to share that mythos.

In addition to the main PNC-Spain website, you can also find PNC-Spain on twitter and on facebook.

Deeply Rooted – Pagan Land, a Do-ocracy Intentional Community

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I approached the Deeply Rooted organizational booth at the Pagan Spirit Gathering to find the story of the Pagan land community located between Medford and Wausau, Wisconsin.

Who should I ask about Deeply Rooted?      The reply…

“Talk to Wade, he is the founder. He has had the truest intention of anyone that I have ever met, without any ulterior motives. He wants a strong, supportive, interactive web of community. A network that is strong, and diverse, and of many spiritual paths. He has promoted the idea that just because you may not like someone, does not mean you shouldn’t have their back, if it is for the greater good of a community.”

How did Deeply Rooted come about?

Wade (after much humble disclaiming) ;

My great-great grandparents bought numerous plots of land just in the north of Wisconsin in the 1890’s. Horrible farmland, that failed and was down to 160 acres by the 1920’s. My great uncles held it and it was going into foreclosure. They sought family help and my parents were able to step in and buy the land. A portion was to be my eventual inheritance, and I got them to deed 40 acres over to me, and the balance was put in a state forest restoration program. I donated the forty acres I had to Deeply Rooted, a 501C3-R religious organization. We have all the IRS bells and whistles attached. We applied in 1999 and it took a year and a half. We officially incorporated in the February of 2000. That class is for a church or other religious organization. Continue reading →

Sacred Fire Circle Attendance Up

The Sacred Fire Circle in Paradise, a four day festival in its third year, has 28 people registered and is expecting attendance to go even higher due to the new ‘weekend’ registration option.

The event for adults only takes place in  western Wisconsin and focuses on transformation of self through midnight to dawn drumming, chanting, and trance-work.  “It’s a great environment for personal healing. It’s not uniquely Pagan,” says JRob, who has attended both previous year’s SFC.  ” It taps into something that is at the core of humans, but it’s not for everyone. Not everyone can let go of themselves. Not everyone can deal with the inevitable sleep deprivation. Although just about everyone is probably physically capable of doing it. We’ve had several participants with physical limitations who were able to participate in the sacred fire circle.”

This event is different from many Pagan gatherings.  Attendees do not attend workshops and are expected to fully participate in all aspects.  “The event is co-created, and so everyone divides into four teams to take care of the needs of the event,” says JRob.  His first year he was on the fire team. One of the duties of the fire team was to light the circle in preparation for the night.  This job duty led to one of the more memorable experiences of the event for him.  “It was dark when I entered the circle. So dark that my flashlight couldn’t keep up with the darkness. I went around and lit the many candles on the alters. As I went, each little flame brought the circle to life. I lit the tikis around the edge, and the circle came more to life. I lit ten foot tall tikis around the center, and the circle came more to life. I fed the fire in the center, and our ritual space was fully alive. Witnessing the circle coming alive around me is my most vivid memory of the fire circle.”

Another favorite memory of JRob’s is of the food, “There were two cooks for the event who really are five star chefs. They fed us the most amazing meals.”

Registration includes nine meals.  For those who cannot afford the registration fee, donors who have created a scholarship fund.  Registration closes July 10th and is limited to 50 attendees.  Contact Sacred Fire Circle in Paradise for details.

Editor’s note:  Nels Linde is Co-editor for PNC-Minnesota and one of the organizers of Sacred Fire Circle in Paradise.

Crystal Blanton – National Guest at Sacred Harvest Festival – Interview

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Author Crystal Blanton

I had the opportunity to interview Crystal Blanton about her appearance as featured guest at this years Sacred Harvest Festival presented by Harmony Tribe, inc.  Blanton’s first book, Bridging the Gap, was published in 2010 with Megalithic/ Immanion Press. Her new work, ” Shades of Faith; Minority Voices in Paganism”  is forthcoming. Included at bottom is the content of her main workshop offerings at Sacred Harvest Festival.

What do you hope to offer our community at SHF?

The scope of the work that I do is centered around group dynamics and learning how to navigate some of these dynamics in our community. To help with promoting healthier spiritual experiences for people. I take a lot of that material from being a counselor in my day life.  I take the skill I use in my everyday job and bring them over to our spiritual community. Many spiritual communities have already done this, it is just we haven’t gotten to that place yet in the Pagan community.  I will bring a lot of tools and skills around how to navigate certain group dynamics, how to create more communicative communities, how to navigate conflict and disruptions that can happen in any community dynamic. We’ll cover how to learn and pass on these concepts and tools after the workshops. To create a general sense of optimism in adding these tools that can help to enhance our community at large. That is what I hope to bring to the festival. Continue reading →

PSG Report: Pan’s got some serious Balls

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Pagan Spirit Gathering is known for many things – the fantastic musicians who perform, the variety of workshops, the fulfilling group rituals, and the (in)famous Pan’s Ball.  Pan is so popular at PSG that he doesn’t have just one Ball, he has two.  The other Pan’s Ball is logically named Pan’s Other Ball.  The two Balls have an intertwined history, but are very different in purpose and feel.  Both are held on Friday night, along with separate parties for teens and tweens, and both have a long tradition, but that’s about all they have in common.

Pan's Ball attendee using body stickers to invoke lust

One of the organizers for Pan's Ball shows off her costume for the revel

Pan’s Ball
Pan’s Ball is strictly for those 21 years of age and older.  Pan’s Ball is dismissed by some as a drunken college frat party or an excuse for an orgy.  Organizers say it is a revel, in the sacred sense of the word, and a time to burn off the energy that has built over the past week.   Dancing and drinking are used as a gateway to a state of sensual abandon.  This view of revels, both positive and negative, is nothing new.  The worship of Dionysos, with its accompanying revels, was opposed where ever it was first introduced.  And it was also enthusiastically embraced by a segment of the population.  Usually those who were oppressed by cultural norms and had limited avenues of expression.  In ancient Greece it was women who sought out the Liberator in the wild countryside.  In the modern world, it doesn’t surprise me that Rainbow camp, a group of GLBT campers, are the ones reviving this way of worshiping Dionysos.

Continue reading →