Tag: pagan

Magus Books and Herbs – 19 years of Service – Interview

2 Comments

Magus books is celebrating 19 years serving the Twin Cities this month. Join them tomorrow, Saturday Sept 17th from 10am-5pm for Customer Appreciation Day at Magus Books & Herbs.  FREE BBQ’d Vittles catered by Standing Stones Coven , Tea Sampling, Door Prizes, Grab Bags, Tarot, Aura Photos & other fantastic specials. Talks & Discussion will be happening through-out the day.

I talked to Roger Williamson about the history of the store. Provoking Thoughts and Expanding Horizons since 1992! is your website tag line, what does that mean to you?

 We feel that in society a lot of people aren’t encouraged to go out and pursue their dreams. They may not be aware of all the opportunities open to them. I would like to think Magus helps promote that idea, magical philosophy, that you can be anything you want to be. We try to appeal to open-minded people, who feel all belief systems are valid. We should respect all points of view, even if they happen to be contrary to our own.

Magus Books Storefront - Google Earth Streetview

Continue reading →

Green Phallus tours TC Pagan Pride – Photo Essay

The Green Phallus toured Twin Cities Pagan Pride on Saturday.  The story of his  origins may be found here. He touched many people, was rejected by some, caused some to drop to the ground in awe, and offered his experience to those who opened themselves to the Green Phallus.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Jill - “ One wonders if one is worthy to embrace the Green Phallus, but I do so with no regret. I like the realistic testicals, one is slightly larger than the other. I like it around my neck , it feels sweaty yet cosy.”

Green Phallus at his country estate :

The Green Phallus welcomes companionship at the Minnesota Ren Fair, and friendship on facebook, where any comments can be directed regarding his TCPP visit.

Nels Linde

Pagan Sweats – News? No, an Interview!

3 Comments

Jim Esralian, and Karen have been leading Sweat Lodge ceremonies at Sacred Harvest Festival (SHF) for many years. He is so unassuming many don’t know his connection to this ceremony. I interviewed him at SHF.  He first off declared proudly he was Armenian, “A conquered people as well”.

Traditional Sweat Lodge

You have a pretty deep connection to Native American traditions?

Back home I live in central Michigan, near the Saginaw Chippewa reservation. In addition I have become friends with folks from Turtle Mountain reservation, and other places, that have brought traditions from that area, to Michigan. They are actually mixed traditions themselves. They are combinations of Metis, Cree, Ojibwe, Ashinabe, and Lakota. A lot of the medicine that was passed down was already fairly multi-national. Turtle Mountain is in North Dakota, in an area where several tribes border each other and their cultures inter-mingled. People came from that area bring with them what is called the ‘Thirsty Dance’, very similar to a “Sun Dance”. They also brought some of the Lodge traditions, as well as some of the songs. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday PNC-MN! – Editorial

2 Comments

The Pagan Newswire Collective – Minnesota Bureau is one year old! Evolving from a meeting at PSG with Jason Pitzl-Waters, and consultations with a local group who had also sent a proposal for a Minnesota bureau, this bureau posted “Community Notes”  from TCPagans on July 28th, 2010. How the PNC idea had gotten to this point is another whole story, but for us who formed this bureau; Heather Biedermann, Cara Schulz, and myself, Nels Linde, it was the start of an ambitious project.

What is this bureau?

The vision we acted upon was of a blog based information source for our community. The concept of ‘news’ is a hard one to define. Is it ‘Dog bites Pagan’, “Pagan bites Dog’, ‘What Pagans think about Dogs’, ‘Pagan wins at Dog Show’, ‘Pagan buys Dog’, ‘Dog bites Pagan in Detroit’, or ‘Pagan bites Pagan’? Well, we believe it is all of these topics and more. Our concept is to cover whatever seems to be the demonstrated interest, issues, and news we find in our community, and also to stretch that interest. As volunteers, with limits on our time, resources, and local experience, our content will also reflect our personal interest (I may have not written about Pagans hunting, if I didn’t hunt). As much as we are defining who and what we are, we also realize the idea of a local information source is ‘news’ to you, our readers. We know that your expectations may not match with our vision, and pay scale (we are all volunteers and have funded the costs, and time involved, in our reporting out of our pockets). We expect as we all grow and learn, these inequities in understanding will be resolved. Continue reading →

NorDCOG Lammas Ritual – Editorial and Interviews

2 Comments

I attended the Northern Dawn Covenant of the Goddess (NorDCOG) Lammas Ritual with about 45 other people on Saturday July 23rd in Hidden Falls Park in St Paul, MN.  The ritual was written by  Veronica Cummer and presented by Veronica and Janus, with a cast assembled from the community. Titled “LAMASU: SACRIFICE AND BLISS” , the ritual was concise and powerfully presented. A variation of classic Lammas stories, this ritual was described as invoking, “the age-old themes of Life, Death and Rebirth, and will contain both Wiccan elements and elements of the Sorgitzak Path. Sorgitzak is based on interaction with and the teachings of a pantheon of Gods from the Old Forest.” The ritual told the story easily, and seemed to translate clearly to those present.

I remembered back to a time when, to many folks, public events like this might be their only Sabbat ritual experience. I wondered whether that has changed. I asked two questions:

Why was it important to come to a public (open to all) ritual?

Do you also celebrate Sabbats in private?

The Dark Lady of Mercy photo:Paul Rucker

Rachael Goodman,

Personally I think it is important for the community to come together publicly in a situation where maybe some people don’t understand exactly what we are doing in a ritual, but to let them experience it.

In private? I do.

Janus,

To build and share community and get to know each other. To know and worship together with those of like minds.

In private? Yes.

Jack Green,

To serve the community. To help present this sequence of Sabbats that are important to us, That help us relate to the cycles of nature. I like ritual outdoors, and don’t mind Non-Pagans witnessing it. They need to know that we are out here.

In private? Oh yes. Continue reading →