Paganicon Opens Friday! – Interview

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Elysia, LLewellyn Senior Acquisitions Editor

Elysia is the Senior Acquisitions Editor for Witchcraft, Wicca, Pagan, and magickal books at Llewellyn. She spoke with me about the new Pagan Conference this weekend, Paganicon.

You are representing Llewellyn Publishing at Paganicon, what is their role in the event?

We are one of the sponsors. This is the first time that we are stepping in as a sponsor for an event. What generally happens with regard to Pagan conferences, is sometimes I will be sent to them, and we’ll have a table or a display. We often provide items for a raffle or a charity cause. For many years I have been going to Pagan conferences, and it has been a loss that we haven’t had one here, in the Twin Cities.

When I heard that there would be one here, I let the management at Llewellyn know, and said, “We really should get involved in this”.  It is our community, and we want to support it, and hope it grows to be huge!  For myself, I want to be involved in the future so it is just as much a success as others I have gone to.  This year we are supporting by bringing John Michael Greer as Guest of Honor.  We are providing his transport and meals, and Twin Cities Pagan Pride (TCPP) is providing his housing during his stay.  This was a great way that we could work together, getting someone really interesting, and a “Big Name Pagan” (BNP) into the Twin Cities.
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John Michael Greer – Interview with Paganicon Guest

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John Michael Greer

John Michael Greer is the Guest of Honor at the launch of Paganicon this weekend. He will be giving a keynote address at 8pm Friday night, to open the event. I got the opportunity to interview him, and listened spellbound to his articulate thoughts. I first asked about the path that brought him to be Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA). He treated me to his personal history from age 10, fascinated with UFO’s, Unexplained Mysteries, Magic, and reading the Lord of the Rings. He said he was a boyhood, “Geek before being a geek was fashionable.” His many books are references that are a must for every bookshelf. He is a gentle, polite, and soft-spoken man, but one with a passion, clarity, and eloquence that show through his writing, and promises a keynote address, not to be missed! His areas of mastery and expertise are lengthy, varied, and impressive. If anyone can be called a Pagan Visionary, I would say it is John Michael Greer.

What can you say about your keynote address Friday night at Paganicon?

There are two ways you can take a talk about Paganism and the future. One is what is going to be the future of Paganism, the other is how is Paganism going to deal with the broader future, that is breathing down our necks at this point. I will be talking about both. We are moving into a future that a lot of people are going to find very challenging, especially if they have bought into the attitude, that “Our ancestors were stupid. We are smart, and we are going to go zooming off to the stars.   We know the truth, and no one else has ever done so.” Continue reading →

Sacred Spaces Part 5 – Funding and Sustaining a Community Center

Sacred Spaces is a series that looks at successful examples of modern Pagans creating and maintaining permanent places for worship and fellowship. In this segment, we look at how Sacred Paths Center, a Pagan community center in St Paul, made it through a financial crisis that could have closed its doors and emerged financially sustainable.

In Part 6 of Sacred Spaces, we talk with Sacred Paths Center Executive Director Teisha and Board member CJ Stone about the profound impact the community center has had on the Pagan community in the Twin Cities and why it is worth the effort, sweat, and money to have a place where Pagans can be Pagans.

Previous segments of this series can be seen here:
Part 1 – Temple of the River: Getting started
Part 2 – Temple of the River: Challenges and Construction
Part 3 – Temple of the River: Funding
Part 4 – Sacred Paths Center: Birth of a Community Center

Sacred Spaces Part 4: Birth of a Community Center

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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 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 4 of Sacred Spaces we talk with the founder and a board member of a Pagan community center in St Paul and learn how they were able to get this project off the ground.  They also offer advice on how your community can start a community center of your own.

In Part 5 of Sacred Spaces, we talk with Teisha and CJ about surviving Sacred Path Center’s first financial crisis and how they developed a financially sustainable model that other communities can emulate.

Previous segments of this series can be seen here:
Part 1 – Temple of the River: Getting started
Part 2 – Temple of the River:  Challenges and Construction
Part 3 – Temple of the River:  Funding

‘Super’ Full Moon this Weekend

Tomorrow night, a full Moon of rare size and beauty can be seen.  It is a super perigee moon and is the biggest in almost 20 years.

Full Moons appear to vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon’s orbit. Perigee is when the moon’s orbit brings it closer to the Earth and apogee is when it furthest from the Earth.  Perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon’s orbit.

The full Moon tomorrow night coincides at almost the exact moment of perigee.  This happen only about once every 18 years.  For Pagans this can mean that tomorrow night could be a prime time for powerful magic or it could give extra meaning to Ostara rites.