Paganistan Weekly – September 6-12

** EVENTS THIS WEEK **

MONDAY; September 6, Labor Day

  • 7pm Mindful Mondays (meditation) mvanavery@yahoo. com for detail

TUESDAY; September 7

WEDNESDAY; September 8

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Community Notes – September 6-12

Ken Ra needs a new kidney, and you can help. Ken has signed on with the Paired
Kidney Program through Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Kidney Transplant Unit. If
he can get someone to donate a kidney, (whether it’s a match for him or not)
then someone else in the program can get him a kidney. This will drastically
reduce the wait, which is usually between 3 to 5 years. Ken needs a kidney
sooner than that. For more details, write to lizshomeservices@gmail.com

The Wiccan Church of Minnesota is offering a Wicca First Degree Series
–Basics for Solitaries. The classes will run Sundays , Oct 3 – Nov 21, 5 – 7
pm. Pre-registration is required by September 21. Register and pay Fees at
Sacred Paths Center. More information at TEACHERSREP@WICCANCHURCHMN.COM

Only one more week until the Wendy Rule & Kari Tauring concert, Sunday September
12. Get your tickets before they’re gone:

The Magic Mama put on a great show at Minnehaha Falls. In fact she made such a
positive impression that she was booked for Pagan Pride on the spot. So event
organizers, come to Pagan Pride and check out Magic Mama because you might want
to book her too, and keep her coming back to the Twin Cities.

The musical entertainment for this year’s TC Pagan Pride is really coming
together. So far they’ve got Rumgumption (Celtic music featuring a champion
harpist), Totally Northern Tribal Dancing, Murpy’s Midnight Rounders, Folk
Magic, and Magic Mama. So be sure to come to Lake Harriet Spiritual Community
September 25 & 26 for Pagan Pride.

The SPC No Need to Panic fundraiser was a delightful success with the Emerald
Goddess being won by Gypsy Nilsen. Congratulations to Gypsy and all the other
participants who took home the wonderful items and donated to our Pagan
community center.

There’s a Pow Wow next weekend on St. Peter’s Church Grounds in Mendota,
Minnesota  (by Mendota Bridge on Hwy 13, from Minneapolis, just across the bridge)
September 10, 11 & 12. It starts at 5pm Friday, 11am-8pm Saturday, and
11am-5-30pm Sunday. For more information call 651-452-4141

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Celtic Temple Opens in Northeast Minneapolis

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September 18 heralds a new piece of Minnesota Pagan history: a Celtic Pagan temple,  in Northeast Minneapolis, opens to the public. Andrew Jacob, priest of the Temple of the River,  (TOR) will lead a purification ceremony in the Mississippi River. After the ritual, participants can dry off in the new temple, also called the Irish Cottage Building.

The temple is the first official structure of the Old Belief Society, a community intended to train Celtic priests by combining academic and spiritual teachings. Temple of the River, a smaller subset of that society led by Jacob, formerly occupied a space in Dinkytown before moving their meeting space to his home in Northeast. He conceived of building a physical temple after helping construct a Native American style pavilion in 2006. “We made it a priority to have a physical temple in a permanent space – because a welcoming meeting space is one of the first things you need for community.” Continue reading →

PNC Expands

PNC-Minnesota: First, I would like to announce a new addition to the PNC-Minnesota, Diana Rajchel.  Diana has a background in Hard News and Editorial and is writing a book about divorce and Neopaganism.  Look for her contributions to the PNC to appear shortly.

If you are interesting in joining the PNC-Minnesota, please contact us!

PNC launches new bureaus: PNC National is proud to announce two newly-launched PNC bureaus, PNC-Iowa and PNC-Florida.

In addition, PNC-Atlanta has recently re-organized and is expanding to cover all of Georgia. Iowa, Florida, and Georgia join already established bureaus in Maine, Washington DC, and Minnesota, forming the backbone of a new kind of Pagan news organization.   If you’d like to help promote the PNC in your neck of the woods, download our easy-to-print informational brochure to hand out at the next gathering or event you attend.

Already our bureaus and journalists have done some excellent reporting and ground-work that will change the way our communities approach and consume news. The Washington DC bureau will be at the 25th anniversary ceremony for the Lady Liberty League, PNC-Minnesota has done amazing work covering Paganistan, independent PNC-affiliated reporters are covering events, and the PNC along with its media partners at Proud Pagan Podcasters and Patheos.com are beginning the work of establishing regular coverage at major Pagan events. – The Wild Hunt

PNC National is developing their web site for a Fall release. Those who’ve been following our progress will be able to see how the bureau system, our blogs, and other projects integrate to create a news and information hub that not only benefits readers, but creates more content options for Pagan media outlets. Our organization will be having an official “coming out” at the 2011 Pantheacon in San Jose in February. There will be a meet-and-greet and several PNC members, including two from the PNC-Minnesota, plan to be in attendance. We hope to see some of you there!

Written in association with The Wild Hunt

SHF Series – Came a Lutheran, Left a Pagan

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Eric Newes works on his project in a workshop led by Judy Olson (right)

Not all interviews go as you expect them to go. This interview, with Eric Newes, was supposed to be about the perspective of the Sacred Harvest Festival from someone who was attending their very first Pagan festival. Yet, by the time I had asked a few opening questions, I realized this interview was about something far different – it was about the powerful, transformative nature of festivals when a person is ready and open to the experience.  It’s about how Eric came to the Sacred Harvest Festival as a  (nominal) Lutheran, but left as a Pagan.

Below is a partial transcript of the ten minute interview I conducted with Eric at the Sacred Harvest Festival. At the end is the actual audio interview and I urge you to listen to it. It is fascinating to hear about his conversion from Lutheran to Pagan during the course of the festival, especially when he talks about the life changing ritual in the sweat lodge.

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