Paganistan Weekly; September 13-19

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinCitiesPagans/
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** EVENTS THIS WEEK **

MONDAY; September 13

  • 6pm weekly Community Potluck at the Sacred Paths Center followed by 7pm Reiki Circle at the Sacred Paths Center where good energy is sent to those who need it
  • 7pm Mindful Mondays (meditation) mvanavery@yahoo. com for details
  • 8pm Freyja Study Group; Contact Sara at: kolstad002@yahoo.com for directions
  • 8pm Introduction to Thelema at the Eye of Horus;

TUESDAY; September 14

Wendy Rule & Kari Tauring Concert Sunday

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Artist Wendy Rule

This intimate concert at the 120 seat Patrick’s Cabaret features two extraordinary performers whose music has been called otherworldly and transcendent: Australian Wendy Rule & Nordic Roots performer Kari Tauring.  Both are modern mystics who draw on ancient myth to lead their audiences on a sonic trip to the otherworld, invoking nature, fairies and dieties, as well as providing great modern music.

Wild, passionate and empowering, Australian Songstress Wendy Rule, weaves together music, mythology and ritual to take her audience on a transcendent journey of depth and passion.

With the recent release in May 2010 of her sixth full length studio album, Guided by Venus, Wendy has firmly established herself as one of Australia’s most uniquely gifted and prolific artists.

Minneapolis Völva (staff carrier) Kari Tauring will open the show with the otherworldly sounds of lokkr, (summoning calls), accompanied by stav and tein. Huldrelokk, vardlokk, and rune galder blend with Norwegian folk songs and Old Norse Eddic poems to create fresh, environmentally driven compositions.

Kari takes her cues from the energy of the room, the Earth, the audience itself. Her performance will take you on a journey through space and time, ancestral and Earth memory.

The concert is this Sunday, at Patrick’s Cabaret, starting at 7pm. Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets are available at the door.  Call Eye of Horus for more information at 612-872-1292 or click here.

* Content provided by Eye of Horus

Editorial – Author’s Books Change Opinions About Paganism

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Books have always had a powerful impact within the Pagan community, the two best examples being Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land’s influence on The Church of All Worlds and Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon.  However, while these books influenced the Pagan community internally or helped Seekers realize that Paganism exists as an option, they didn’t affect non-Pagans’ perceptions about our religions.  The Paganism depicted was either too easily dismissed from serious thought as too vague, too exotic to be connected to anything in real life.  One author who is changing non-Pagans’ perceptions of our religions through realistic Pagan characters is S.M. Stirling.

The books are set in a contemporary post-apocalyptic America and many of the main characters and heroes of the tales are Pagans of some variety.  For a look at what the books are about please see this article.

SM Stirling (center) with Charles Morrison (left) and Greg Dalen (right)

Mr. Stirling was in town Tuesday on a promotional tour for his new book, The High King of Montival.  The book is the fourth in the Sunrise Lands series, which is a continuation of the Dies the Fire series.  I entered Uncle Hugo’s book store excited at the prospect of having Stirling sign my Nook.  Yes, I am that much of a geek.  I was also excited at the prospect of talking to some of my fellow non-Pagan book geeks to judge the impact of Stirling’s books.

Greg Dalen and Charles Morrison were happy to talk about all things Stirling.  When asked what they liked about the Dies the Fire books, Dalen said, “I don’t like how in most post-apocalyptic literature they end up with everyone fighting everyone.  That’s not realistic.  People would organize.  People would pull together like the Clan Mackenzie. (the Wiccan group formed by main character Juniper Mackenzie)  The characters are gripping.”

The characters are gripping and the author’s understanding of Wicca and Heathenry is both deep and nuanced.  When asked, in a separate interview, how he accomplished that feat, Stirling responded, “Partly pure research, more a matter of getting in contact with a fairly substantial number of actual Pagans and Heathens, Kier Salmon, Diana Paxson, and others, and having them go over rough drafts of my work, correct errors, tell me stuff, and point me in the direction of necessary information.  Also the ability to do ‘projective empathy’ is really necessary for a writer.  You have to be able to see the world through other eyes.”

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Sacred Fire Circle – Icing on your Spiritual Cake

I attended the Sacred Fire Circle [SFC] this past Labor day weekend sponsored by Circle Sanctuary. This event takes place near Mount Horeb, just outside of Madison, Wi.  Sacred Fire Circles have developed as individual events, each with it’s own character over the past fifteen years. Mainly building on the creative impulse and vision of Jeff Magnus McBride and Abigail Spinner McBride, these events are emerging all over the country and world. While total participation is relatively small [this event had nearly 60 attend], the impact on those involved is large. Many of your favorite songs and chants likely come from Abby Spinner and were written for use in Sacred Fire Circles. Below are interviews from eight participants.

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Best Selling Author S.M. Stirling Comes to Minneapolis

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Author SM Stirling

S.M. Stirling, author of the best selling Dies the Fire and Sunrise Lands series, swings through Minneapolis to promote a new novel.  He will be at Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore today (September 7th) at 5 pm-6pm.

Both series are increasingly popular with Pagans as many of the main characters are Wiccans and Heathens.  The books allow us to see a reality in which our religions are dominate religions once again.  These circumstances are brought into play after an event called “The Change”:

“the Change,” that renders electronics and explosives (including firearms) inoperative. As American society disintegrates, without either a government able to maintain order or an economy capable of sustaining a large population, most of the world dies off from a combination of famine, plague, brigandage and just plain bad luck. The survivors are those who adapt most quickly, either by making it to the country and growing their own crops—or by taking those crops from others by force.  […] Ultimately, Stirling shows that while our technology influences the means by which we live, it is the myths we believe in that determine how we live. The novel’s dual themes—myth and technology—should appeal to both fantasy and hard SF readers as well as to techno-thriller fans.  – Publishers Weekly

The author has gone to great pains to research Paganism and his books are described as one of the truest depictions of Paganism in modern literature.  Chas Clifton, best known for his book Her Hidden Children:  The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in the America, had this to say about the series:

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