Tag: Pagan Festivals

Standing Stones Mabon – Interview

I had the honor to attend the Coven of the Standing Stones community Mabon celebration last weekend. This is a private, by invitation event, but those for whom it is needed, or appropriate for, always seem to find an invitation (or you can ask for one). If you ask; “What is this coven known for?” , most would say they excel in the ‘craft’ of the Craft, they put together a solid ritual experience. They are the most welcoming group you will find, and take pride in their diversity and inclusiveness.  Standing Stones has been supportive of many community groups and events over the years, particularly helping the local Covenant of the Goddess raise needed funds for survival a few years back, and ongoing help cleaning the highway with the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance (UMPA) and raising funds for that group. If you can’t find them at Magus Books offering free classes, look wherever you see Pagan community growing and they are likely somewhere involved!

Standing Stones is a coven of leaders.  I got a chance to corner three of the most visible. Don, John, and Tamara, and ask some questions.

How long have you been doing a community Mabon?
John: This is the eighth year we have held this event as a community Mabon.

How many folks do you have attending?
John:  By our count, close to 120. A pretty good turnout! It’s a large family.

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Why do you hold this event?
John:  It is a way we give back to our community. By giving back some of our bounty, we help build our community. Our community gives to us and we have to give something back.

We started inviting our community to celebrate Mabon with us about eight years ago. About 70 people attended. Some in our community have been at every one. We feel honored by that. We used to hold both a community Ostara and a Mabon, because we liked honoring the balance of light and dark at both times of the year. But they got so large and came up so quickly that we decided it was best to just offer one. We picked Mabon because it is a time of abundance. We thought, let’s feed everybody and pick a time when we can all be outside and enjoy some great weather.

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Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids East Coast Gathering 2012

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This article is reprinted, with permission, by John Beckett.  The event was attended by several Midwest Druids, including the Crescent Birch Grove in southeast Michigan.

Now that I’ve told my big story I want to share my impressions of the rest of this year’s Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids East Coast Gathering. This was the third year for this event and the second year for me attending.

The big difference this year was the size: 103 people were registered and I think actual attendance wasn’t much less. Word is getting around the OBOD community that this is a good event and the presence of two “Big Name Druids” was an added attraction. There were people from all over the East Coast (as far south as Florida), the Midwest, Louisiana, Texas, and California, plus one from the Netherlands. And of course, two from England.

Philip Carr-Gomm gives the Chosen Chief’s address

Philip Carr-Gomm gave a Chosen Chief’s address that was more conversation than lecture. Many people expressed the intuition that “something big is coming” – being a UU Pagan as well as a Druid, I added “yes, and it’s our job to help create it!” Philip talked about the major crises of our world and how Druidry is a response many people are finding helpful. He also emphasized OBOD’s religious inclusiveness: there are Pagan Druids, Christian Druids, Buddhist Druids, atheist Druids, and the growing Spiritual But Not Religious Druids. I am undeniably a Pagan Druid and my primary interests are religious, but I agree we should keep our tent as big and as open as possible.

Glamping, Pagan Spirit Gathering style

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When you’re camping for a week or longer, bringing a few creature comforts is not a bad idea.  A blow up mattress, a folding table, perhaps even a coffee pot.  You think you’re camping in luxury until you notice the camp next to yours.  An oven?  A chandelier?  Air conditioning?    Those people know how to glamp (glamorous camping) at a Pagan festival.  Here’s a slideshow of some of the very best camps and glamping ideas from 2012’s Pagan Spirit Gathering.

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Keep this article bookmarked to use for ideas for your next Pagan (or non-Pagan) camping trip.

 

Andras Corban Arthen – Sacred Harvest Festival Guest – Interview

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I can listen to Andras Corban Arthen all day. He has a rich, low voice with the gentle cadence of caring. He has a lifetime of experience in the Pagan community, and the depth of perception and the wisdom of his words keeps you riveted.  He is presenting and performing all next week at Sacred Harvest Festival, near Geneva, Minnesota.  Advance registration closes today, gate registration is available during the event Aug. 6-12th.

Andras Corban Arthen

You are just back from Europe, what were you doing there?

Andras: I go to Europe fairly often, since I have family and friends across the pond (I’m from Spain, originally), and a big part of my work is focused there. This trip served several purposes, the main one being related to a book I am writing, based on one of the presentations I will be doing at Sacred Harvest Festival (SHF) entitled The “Indians” of Old Europe. It looks at the cultures and spiritual practices that were originally called “Pagan” in the context of indigenous traditions from around the world. For over 35 years I’ve been searching for people in Europe who may be keeping alive the remnants of the old ethnic spiritual traditions of their countries, and have found some, both in Eastern and Western Europe, mostly in small, rural, out-of-the-way places where the old languages are still spoken. Most of them do not use the label “Pagan,” though their practices are not Christian and appear to be authentically very old. In some significant ways, they are quite different from what one typically finds in the modern pagan movement, and there are some important things that I think we could learn from them. When I first met these people I hadn’t been planning to publish a book, so before going further with this I needed to go back to touch base with them in person and ask for permission to write about them, their beliefs, and practices. I was able to do that with four of them, and in two of those cases wound up getting more information than I had before, so I’m pretty satisfied on that account.

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Yeshe Rabbit – Sacred Harvest Festival Guest – Interview

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Lady Yeshe Rabbit
Sacred Harvest Festival Guest

I talked to Lady Yeshe Rabbit of the Come As You Are (CAYA) coven. We talked about her work in the San Francisco Bay area, her appearance at Sacred Harvest Festival, and her thoughts on gender issues in the Pagan community.

How do you like to be addressed?
For the most part you can call me Rabbit. My title in my coven is Yeshe, it is a word that has a few different meanings. In Tibetan it means “primordial wisdom”, and that is why I took the title, because I wanted to be guided by that primordial wisdom that resides within. It was also a childhood nickname, because I am Polish and my birth name is Jessica.

Tell me about CAYA?
CAYA coven is my coven.   There is within CAYA several different layers of membership. Some people have a casual relationship and may just attend our rituals. There is also an inner circle of trained clergy. These are people who have been with the group for a number of years. They would be my ‘closer’ coven you might say.

What is the role of CAYA in the Bay area?
CAYA stands for “Come As You Are”, and it is a coven that is built around the principles of eclecticism, inter-faith, and support for a wide variety of different paths. An individual who maybe has a very strong personal path, or, one who might be  just starting out and wants to learn about many different paths to see which one is the right fit, would find themselves very comfortable in CAYA. Each of us in CAYA feels that it is the utmost importance the we determine our own personal relationship with the divine. We then share our own individual practices and spiritual beliefs in the spirit of generosity without presuming that we know the one way that is right for everyone. What that means is that we are a coven “filled with solitaries” (jokingly), because everyone has their own individual practice. When we come together we join around a central core of protocols of how we do rituals in an outlined format, a baseline of ethics that we have all agreed to, and principles of community that we think are essential:  Cooperation, conflict resolution, clergy conduct and comportment. When people come into CAYA they feel very welcome, even if a beginner, or if they are extremely experienced and just don’t want to be told what to do because they are confident in their own path.

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