ONTARIO, Calif. — Covenant of the Goddess members elected a new First Officer Saturday. Canu, who has been a member for 25 years, will be moving into the position Nov. 1, along with the newly-elected board. Canu said,”My goals include drawing on CoG’s deep combined experience to: support our local councils’ and solitary members’ needs and goals, such as intrafaith interaction with the broader Pagan community; review our membership processes and barriers to joining the Covenant; support our interfaith work and plan for the periodic costs of interfaith representation at the Parliament of the World’s Religions and North American Interfaith Network events; and engage all of our members to make CoG more focused on, and communicative about, what we have to give directly, like community events, philanthropy, and networking.”
He added that, generally speaking, he wants “our Wiccan and Witchcraft communities [to] know that CoG supports them, their work, and their exercise of religious rights.” He thanked the efforts of the past board, which has been headed up by First Officer Jack Prewett. Canu said, “I’ll step into some big shoes on November 1st, and I hope to build on the efforts of those that have been caretaking CoG for many years.”
The new board was elected at CoG’s annual business meeting, Grand Council, that is held during the Merry Meet event. Joining Canu will be Circe as National Second Officer, Morgana as Recorder, Janine as National Public Information Officer, Stachia Ravensdottir as Publications Officer, Thea as National Membership Officer, Amber K as National Communications Officer, Manny Tejeda-Moreno as National Pursewarden.
Next year’s Merry Meet and Grand Council will be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Catland Books hosted a hexing event Friday evening, which was aimed at President Donald Trump and “his cohorts.” Catland reader Dakota Bracciale organized the event and was allowed to use store’s space. When explaining the ritual, Bracciale reportedly told the dozen attendees: “Moral questions come up. ‘Oh God, I’ve heard cursing is so bad.’ Well, hexing someone because they’ve wronged you is very simple. It’s what laws are based on. It’s punitive, that’s what it is.”
This was not the first hexing ritual of its kind held in the metaphysical store or beyond. The hexing trend continues on, as it has since Trump first announced his bid for the presidency. As for hex events held at Catland, Bracciale has a mason jar filled with tiny crumbled papers “holding curses” from past similar ceremonies. Friday’s attendees were invited to add to the jar.
Part of the proceeds raised by the event were donated to Planned Parenthood. Catland says that number totaled $78. In a Facebook post, Catland Books also advertises: “Join us for next month’s hex, and help us continue to make a difference!”
Although Caltand spokesperson did tell The Wild Hunt that the event was not run by the store owners, they are holding classes on magical activism to explore “the world of occult political resistance.”
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TWH — Concerns about Pagans violating copyright protections of Pagan books have resurfaced in a big way, with thousands of volumes being uploaded by the owner of one popular Facebook group. Authors and publisher’s agents who knew that no such permission had been granted have tried to get the files removed, and after several days those attempts appear to have been successful, to the disappointment of some group members.
Tomorrow we will have coverage of how copyright laws are used and ignored in the digital age, including interviews with author Lupa Greenwolf, Nimue Brown of Moon Books, and Llewellyn’s Elysia Gallo. Included will be common misconceptions about what’s acceptable to share over the internet, and what it takes to get an illegal copy of a book or other work of art removed from a site.
Coming up this week we will have reactions and reports concerning the weekend’s violent actions in Charlottesville.
In other news:
- New Jersey-based priestess Deborah Lipp was featured on Beyond Reality Radio Aug. 7. The show is hosted by Jason Hawes, who is co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) and by JV Johnson, a paranormal investigator and publisher. They talk to Lipp about the practice of modern Witchcraft and “what it means to be a Witch.”
- Catland Books, mentioned above, is hosting a lecture series by the New York City-based Satanic Temple. The next class, to be held Aug. 25, is called “Satanic Feminism, Rebellion, Identities.” Proceeds from this event will go to the Satanic Temple’s Religious Reproductive Rights campaign.
- Feminist historian Max Dashu has published an essay that explores the “pornification of goddess figures.” She begins by saying, “For some time I’ve been thinking that something needs to be said about the the toxic femininity scripts creeping into ‘Goddess’ imagery, mass-media contamination, and all in the name of women’s empowerment. These posed, stilted, playmate-like ‘goddesses’ sticking their breasts out and pouting like lipstick models are all over the net.”
- Pagan Pride season is upon us, and will run through November. Twin Cities Pagan Pride Day, which will be held in September, is celebrating its 20th year. This year’s event will include the sharing of memories from past years, and cake. Organizers also note that they will be hosting “Murphey’s Midnight Rounders farewell concert, as they prepare to embark on new musical projects.”
- And, Mercury is once again retrograde.
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