Tag: pagan

Who’s at the door? Ex-Offenders – Interview

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In the next few years many Pagan groups and communities will be confronting how we receive released and reformed prisoners.  How Pagans answer this question will in part define who we are, an important question.

At Paganicon this year,  Morninghawk Apollo is offering a workshop/discussion on the topic.  He describes it as:  “Many new members coming to the Pagan community are former prison inmates who became Pagans while locked up.  At many institutions, either Wicca or Asatru is the largest religious group, not counting solitary practitioners.  The vast majority of these inmates will be released at the end of their sentences and wish to join the Pagan community.  Statistically, if your group hasn’t been approached by an ex-con yet, it will be. Have you considered your response? What reception should we give these Pagans when they are released? Bring your thoughts, fears, and ideas for a lively discussion of this important topic. “

Photo: workinglinks.co.uk

Morninghawk has been offering prison ministry with his wife since 2004.  He took a three-year break in the middle, and is back serving two Moose Lake, MN facilities.  The Minnesota State Correctional Facility (MCF Moose Lake) is a regular prison and has inmates, called “offenders,” who wear uniform clothing.  The Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) is a post-sentence medical treatment facility that houses inmates, called “clients,” who wear whatever they want within reason.  Many inmates convicted of certain sexual offenses are civilly committed by the court to the MSOP program after completing their MCF prison sentence.  Both are secure facilities, and look like prisons when you drive up.

I talked to Morninghawk about his work:

What are the facilities you minister to?
Morninghawk:  At the MCF is a level three medium security facility, meaning many have served their “hard time” at a facility like Stillwater or Oak Park Heights.   They are generally on their way to release in the next five years.  At MSOP, there is no defined release time.  If they graduate from this program, they are transferred to the MSOP program in St.Peter, MN.  If they graduate from that program they may be released to society from there.   In the seventeen years the program has been running, only one client has been released from St. Peter,  just this past year.  Both facilities are all men.
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Am I a Pagan? – Editorial

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Photo: kitchenwiccan.com

Quite a few people anguish over their personal answer to this question.   We should all know what to say, but usually stammer around a little and say something vague.  There is a discussion among Pagan intellectuals about whether your beliefs and practices can safely fall under the broad definition this term offers.  The modern definition of Pagan arose with a pretty Wicca-centric focus, so the further your practices and beliefs get from that, the less safe this umbrella term may feel.  Can we agree to a term or definition that works better in the future?   I don’t know.  Nearly everyone has a different answer, when asked, “So what is a Pagan?”   I see the value for those who embrace the word in finding a good definition for the term we can all use.  A definition that is accurate and inclusive, and doesn’t offend anyone.  I will leave that to others to technically work out, it doesn’t interest me that much.  I just like the term Pagan.

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s when the word “Hippie” was kind of similar.  For some it conjured up dirty, disheveled, long-haired lazy people, self-absorbed in mind expanding drugs and having loose moral standards. I never minded when someone called me one as hate speech.  I knew they meant one thing, but it meant something else to me.  I embraced the label for its vision.  I saw it as representing a new way of looking at life, as re-assessing of what was important, and letting go of the expectations of others and our society.  I liked the “Peace and Love” platform.  I soon learned in personal application it often meant “my” peace, and “my” love, as  interpreted at any moment. The Hippie movement quickly degenerated, maybe because it didn’t have a clearly articulated definition that guided and sustained people who claimed the term.

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Killing, Death, Hunting, and Pagans – Editorial

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death_tree

I just finished a week of hunting deer in Wisconsin, and am a Pagan. Most Pagans don’t have a deep connection to hunting, I guess their demographic is more urban than many religious groups. Hunting is not a big Pagan topic of conversation unless you are from, or live in, a rural area.

A recent blog post by author Stifyn Emtys caught my attention. He wrote questioning hunting, well really questioning it as if hunting is essentially “enjoying killing”. The post goes on to conclude that some,  “people don’t kill because they have to. They kill because they want to. And that, my friends, isn’t just scary. It’s horrifying.“ Another, commenting on social media about that post, took it a step further with, “Hunting, when one has access to vegetation and other food sources is just cold-blooded murder, no way around it. ” 

Murder is killing a person with malice a forethought, quite a stretch to classify hunting with this term.

What offends me is that the post’s author admits that hunting experience is an area of limited personal contact and understanding, but still concludes, “ people who kill animals in the name of sport or spirituality …. reveal something starkly horrific about the human condition.” The author equates hunting with “enjoying killing”.  I don’t hunt because I enjoy killing. I accept that many things in life involve death, and yes, sometimes killing.

As a Pagan and a hunter, I don’t feel compelled to proselytize about either activity. There are plenty of horror stories about both designations, there are plenty of reason to be neither, it is a personal choice.  The blog post did get me to think about killing, death, and particularly our relationship as Pagans to it.

Where is the Pagan experience with death in this intellectual argument? It seemed lacking. My spirituality and experience has changed how I look at death, and at killing. I don’t see it as a punishment, an act of fate or karma, even something to fear. I see it all around me, everyday.

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Karina Besnett Graduating Le Cordon Bleu Saturday

Karina Besnett

Karina Besnett is graduating from the baking and patisserie program at Le Cordon Bleu on November 3rd.  She has grown up in our Pagan community, has worked security at Sacred Harvest Festival, and played the maiden Goddess for a COG Beltane.  She was awarded two scholarships during her time at Le Cordon Bleu.  One was a cooking competition where she took first place.  The other was a merit scholarship awarded on the recommendation of former employers and teachers.  She currently works as a waitress at Fat Lorenzo’s in Minneapolis and is the lead baker at Brasa in St. Paul.

Shedding the Past, A Rite of Passage – Interview

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Marla with Dreadlocks

I had the honor to attend and drum for a Moribayassa (see explanation of this rite of passage below) for Marla, a participant at the Sacred Fire Circle at Circle Sanctuary last week. One of the unique benefits of participating in a Pagan community is the opportunity to share in rites of passage, and have a community of support and celebration for your own rites.  Pagans are as creative with the rituals that define and celebrate life’s transitions, as they are diverse in their beliefs.  This ritual was to celebrate the cutting of the dreadlocks from Marla’s head. For her it was the symbol of many changes in her life, setting aside the past, and an ending of a personal commitment the dreadlocks represented for her.  It was a powerful and joyous rite.

Listen to an excerpt of Moribayassa from this ritual

I asked Laurie, a Madison, WI.  hand drummer who helped organize the ritual, what is a traditional  Moribayassa  like?  

Laurie:  Moribayassa is a rhythm and a dance that comes from Guinea, West Africa. It is performed by a woman just once in her lifetime. She does this dance as a way to celebrate having overcome some kind of adversity in her lifetime. She will announce she will do the dance sometimes years in advance, and drummers and singers gather when the time approaches to help her. The woman will dress in rags, which is a big deal because Africans are very concerned about their appearance. She dances in the rags and dances like she is ‘crazy’.  She dances several times throughout the village, and when she is done she takes off the rags and buries them, usually under a tree. She is then dressed in new clothing symbolizing that now she is a new person. She has overcome the difficulty, it is in the past now, and behind her.  It was quite an honor to play this rhythm for Marla in the context that it was meant for.    You can read more, and learn the rhythm in   “ A Life for the Djembe” by Mamady Keita.

I talked to Marla the day after her ritual.  She was still overwhelmed from the ritual.

When did you start dreading your hair?
Marla: In the spring of 2008.  My ex-husband’s sister was dieing of cancer. I hadn’t had contact with them for 15 years. His wife told him I should  be told, so he called me. His sister was a hairstylist, age forty. They called just as she was put on oxygen, and a week later she was gone.  After that, I just quit combing my hair because it just wasn’t important to me anymore.  It was compounded by the fact I hit forty and still hadn’t had children. That’s were it started, because I felt I was wasting time, and to honor her life.  My niece initially twisted my hair, and then they all came back out. I tried again back-combing it into dreadlocks and then super gluing beads in them so they couldn’t untangle any more.  Finally they started to “dread” on their own.

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