Tag: Sacred Paths Center

Deep Clean the SPC

Sacred Paths Center is looking for volunteers to help them ‘Deep Clean the SPC’ this Sunday.  Carol H. says that it’s “probably not the most popular event of the year but your community center is in need of a deep clean. If you have an hour or so on Sunday morning we would greatly appreciate the help! Many hands make light work.”

The Sacred Paths Center is the only Pagan community center of its kind in the USA. Their mission is to strengthen the Twin Cities alternative religious community by nurturing the physical, intellectual, educational, social and spiritual growth in an inclusive environment defined by earth-reverent values and culture.

If you can assist them for an hour or two, come to the SPC Sunday anytime between 10am and 1pm.  According to the group’s Facebook page, seven people are planning to assist.  The SPC would like to have more people assisting so the cleaning goes quickly.  The SPC is located at 777 Raymond Ave in St Paul.


Interview with Pagan Athropologist, Murph Pizza

I had the opportunity to interview Murph Pizza in August at the Sacred Harvest Festival. She is affectionately called Paganistan’s own “resident anthropologist”. Murph secured her Doctor of Anthropology degree about a year ago. Her published thesis is called, “Paganistan, the growth and emergence of a contemporary Pagan community in Minnesota’s Twin Cities”. It is an ethnography, or recent history and an analysis of what kind of patterns, practices, and customs exist in the Twin cities. It is available through the University of Minnesota library, inter-library loan.  She offers insights into Minnesota Pagans, that you may not know or have forgotten… Read on!

Murph Pizza, PHD Cultural Anthropology

What is Pagan culture?

When we talk about in anthropology about, ‘what is culture’, we kind of have working definitions but what we try to instill, when we are talking about culture, is that culture is patterns of learned behavior. They are passed on from one generation to the next, and usually they are passed on systematically somehow. They could be religious traditions, they could be foods or recipes, but anything that is cultural is learned. To be able to see the emergence of Paganistan as a culture you need a long enough span of time to see what is continuing to be repeated, and when are the innovations in the community necessary. That is really interesting to watch.

Is Pagan culture something outside of mainstream culture, or is it totally contained within it?

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Honoring Our Ancestors and the Mighty Dead at SPC

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Samhain and Ancestors Night are two religious observances that have a similar focus – honoring our ancestors and acknowledging the Mighty Dead.  Food and drink is set out, photos are dusted off, and altar candles are lit.  It’s a night of power, when the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest.  Divinations for the new year are performed and festivals are held in honor of the gods.  Although Samhain (or Ancestors Night) are not observed by all Pagans, Samhain is perhaps the best-known and most widely celebrated of the modern Pagan holidays.

Who are these ancestors and Mighty Dead we honor?  Our ancestors could be blood relatives of ours who have passed on.  They may have been good people that we felt close to and loved all of our lives.  Or they may have been not-so-good and we remember their lives as cautionary tales.  Some Pagans include close friends or members of their coven or religious group who have passed on as their ancestors, saying they are the family they chose to have.  The Mighty Dead are those practitioners of our religion who have crossed the Veil, but who still take great interest in those of their lineage.  Or they may be relatives who were so kind, loving, and devoted to their family that some part of them stays on our side to continue caring for the family.  They watch over us, guide us, and assist us.

The Ancestor Shrine at Sacred Paths Center

Which brings us to a very special place for honoring our ancestors and Mighty Dead year round.  The Ancestor Shrine at the Sacred Paths Center.  The shrine is simple and beautiful, brought into existence through necessity.  Unlike Wisconsin, the Twin Cities has no Pagan cemetery or other public place for us to honor our dead.  When Loui Pieper died, that lack was felt even more keenly.  Enter Clarke Stone and Volkvhy Sterba, the two who are credited with constructing the actual shrine.  They based the idea and the design off of traditional Shinto shrines in Japan.  The shrine has been built without any metal pieces in it. Not a single nail or screw has been used, only wooden pegs and glue.

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SPC Fundraiser Deemed a Success

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Although the goal amount of $5000 was not reached, Sacred Paths Center’s No Need to Panic fundraiser was considered a success by organizers.  The event, attended by approximately 90 area Pagans, raised nearly $3000.  Official numbers have not yet been released, but board members say that $350 was raised through the Buy a Bowl dinner, $1700 from the silent and live auctions, and $950 from raffling off the emerald and matrix Goddess statue.  Damien Johnson, who was the emcee for the evening, auctioned off  items such as a basket of freshly picked vegetables, swords, a kitchen witch, and original works of art.

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Community Center Looks to Raise Funds, Answer Questions

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Sacred Paths Center holds fundraiser on Monday to beef up depleted operating reserves. Seeks to clear up non-profit status amid heated questioning from energy healing community member.

Monday, August 30, 5-9pm at Sacred Paths Center, 777 Raymond Ave, St. Paul, MN 55114

Sacred Paths Center, the only non-profit community center of its kind in the country, is hosting a No Need To Panic fundraiser this Monday. The center hopes to raise $5000 so they can replace operating reserves that were eaten away during the slow time of summer. The SPC says this allows them to keep room rentals affordable and offer free space to important community events. It also goes to things like site maintenance and launching new projects.

Emerald and matrix statue to be raffled off at the No Need to panic fundraiser for the Sacred Paths Center

Organizers of the fundraiser said last year’s event was so successful, they are doing it again. A silent auction, a live auction, and a drawing for an emerald and matrix Goddess statue valued at $2000 are just some of the ways that event attendees can help support the center. The Bowl Buy is also back. Hungry bidders can purchase a bowl and eat their fill of homemade chili, soups, and pasta.

As news of the fundraiser circulated through the local community, questions also arose. The questions, made on Facebook and on the Twin Cities Pagans Yahoo! group, focused on the center advertising itself as a 501(c)3 and if donations made at last year’s event were tax deductible. At times, the questions and the responses, became heated.

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